


Wisdom's Memories

by IWantColouredRain



Category: Charmed (TV)
Genre: F/M, mentions of the unchanged future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-04-14 04:04:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 41,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14127678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWantColouredRain/pseuds/IWantColouredRain
Summary: Fed up of having no answers, the Charmed Ones cast a spell to see if their whitelighter is trustworthy or not. Unsurprisingly, they regret it afterwards. (Always-A-Girl!Chris)





	1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.**

**This has been done a million times of course, but I've put my own spin on it by making Christopher Perry Halliwell a girl named Sophia 'Sophie' Prudence Halliwell. Enjoy and R &R!**

**Chapter One**

"Are we sure about this?" Paige asked hesitantly. "I still don't think this is a good idea. It seems like serious personal gain to me."

"We have to find out what Sophie wants, one way or another," Leo insisted. He was wearing the same expression of dislike that he'd been wearing toward Sophie since her arrival, only more intense. The sisters had never seen him so hostile to anyone they'd met before.

He had been the one to come up with this plan, intent on proving that Sophie was untrustworthy. Paige privately thought he just didn't want to admit that he'd ruined his marriage. Given that Piper and Leo had been fighting for months though, she thought it was unfair to blame Sophie for everything. Sophie hadn't forced him to accept the position of Elder, after all.

"Paige, this is my  _son,_ " Piper pressed, grasping her baby sister's hand firmly. "Your nephew. We  _need_ to do this. We need to find out the truth. I refuse to believe that my baby could be evil. Please Paige."

Paige bit her lip, but reluctantly gave in."Okay,"she sighed. "Let's get this over with then." She suspected they were making a very big mistake, and by the looks of it, so did Phoebe. The sisters grasped hands, beginning the chant.

_"Coming to us from another time, the answers are hidden in Sophie Perry's mind. Show us what we wish to know, is she friend or is she foe?"_

They were enveloped by a whirlwind of sound and colour. It seemed as though they were falling down a long tunnel, clutching hands. Leo had been dragged with them somehow, but when they landed, they were relieved to see that Wyatt wasn't with them.

"We're in the Manor," Phoebe stated as they glanced around. The house looked mostly the same, but there were some new pictures and furniture. The door opened and they all panicked as Piper stepped in, wearing an exhausted expression and holding a phone to her ear.

"We can explain," Paige began, but Future Piper didn't notice, simply stripping off her coat and continuing her conversation on the phone.

"I get that, Darren," she said. "But I have another PT meeting about Wyatt tomorrow. Please cover for me, I swear that I'll give you a bonus to cover the overtime that you've been doing. Thank you."

"Another PT meeting?" Paige whispered under her breath to Phoebe, makes it sound she has a lot, doesn't it?" Phoebe nodded, looking worriedly at Future Piper.

"I don't think that we can interact with them," Leo murmured, also watching Future Piper. She looked prematurely aged, stress-lines deep on her face. There was an unfamiliar, faded scar on her cheek and her hair was pulled into a bun, and she was dressed in a green sweater and a brown skirt. Her ring finger was bare.

"Hey, I'm home!" Piper called after hanging up. A girl, around twelve, rounded the corner with a toddler on her hip.

"Tadaima," the brunette girl greeted Piper with a grin. "That's Japanese for welcome home." Piper laughed, moving forward to hug both girls. She took the younger from the teen, grunting slightly from the effort.

"I wonder who they are?" Paige questioned, studying both girls. There was something familiar about them both, definitely.

"Japanese, huh?" Future Piper grinned. The teen nodded. "Is everyone here?"

The teen bit her lip, before shaking her head with an apologetic look. "I dunno where Wyatt is," she admitted. Future Piper closed her eyes tiredly. "I haven't seen him today. But all the girls are here. They've all had lunch, and I was just helping the twins and Phay with their homework for Magic History."

"Have you done your homework yet, Sophie?" Future Piper raised an eyebrow. The past observers all gasped in surprise.

"Sophie?" Piper demanded "That's Sophie, as in our whitelighter Sophie? What's she doing at our house as a teenager?"

"Babysitting apparently," Paige replied, a bemused look on her face. At least now she knew why the teen looked so familiar.

The memory continued. Piper put down the little girl, who promptly ran back into the conservatory. "Yeah, I just have to do some research on my science report," Sophie assured Future Piper. "I got most of it done it in study hall, I swear."

Piper smiled at her in a motherly fashion. "I know you did, sweetheart," she ran a hand over Sophie's hair before pulling her to her in a side-hug. "You're such a good girl, you know? What would we do without your help?"

"Oh, you'd manage," Sophie murmured modestly. "I'm not special." Piper pulled her close.

"Honey, you are so special," she insisted. "And my life wouldn't be half as good as it is without you."

Sophie smiled and opened her mouth, but they were suddenly scooped back up by the tunnel of colour and noise without hearing her answer.

"Wow," Paige said as soon as they settled on solid ground again. "I guess that explains why Sophie was the one to come back in time. I never guessed that she knew us."

"It makes sense though," Phoebe pointed out. "She knows her way around the house, she knows the Book, and she knew that we were the real Charmed Ones during the Spellman sisters incident. Remember? Even Leo didn't realize it wasn't Piper. Only Sophie. She seemed really close to you, Piper." Piper nodded in acknowledgement, guilt stirring in her stomach. It had to have hurt Sophie, someone who was obviously a close parental figure being so cold to her.

"Maybe it's because of her being part whitelighter, part witch," Piper suggested. "It'd make sense to put her in contact with us, especially since Wyatt's about her age, I guess." They all blinked as they realized for the first time since Sophie's arrival how young she was.

"Where are we now?" Leo asked, wanting to distract himself from the realization that he had attacked and continually threatened a young girl whom he would see grow up. It wasn't a pleasant thing to realize, and he didn't want to feel guilty. Sophie Perry was an evil liar, she had to be. Otherwise Leo was the one the one at fault for ruining his marriage, and he didn't want to admit that.

They all looked around. It was a small hut, with a bunkbed in the corner, and stacks of books and papers littering a desk. Other than some maps, with various coloured pins stuck in them, there was nothing on the walls. It wasn't a particularly homey place. The only personal effects were some clothes, spilling out of a drawer in the corner. Curled on the bottom bunk, with a miserable look on her face and clutching an old photo, was another brunette girl, about twelve they guessed, though she was very thin and dressed in old, illfitting clothes. Tears streamed silently down her face. It was heartbreaking to see for them all.

The door opened, letting in Sophie. She looked like a shockingly malnourished seventeen-year-old, with dark circles under her eyes, and all her bones sticking out sharply. Her hair was pulled back into a tight French braid that showed off a half-healed cut on her temple, and a faded bruise on her left cheek. She was dressed in a plain green shirt, obviously old and past the point where it should've been tossed, a pair of equally worn jeans, combat boots and a leather jacket.

"Oh my god!" Phoebe exclaimed, pressing a hand to her mouth in dismay. "What happened to them?" The others shook their heads, equally unhappy to see a pair of young girls in such a state.

"Rose," Sophie sighed, closing the door. "Why weren't you at class?"

Rose didn't look at her. "What's the point of going? You're never gonna let me leave the base unless it's to go to another damn safehouse anyway."

"Why does it seem like Sophie's her parent?" Paige wondered as they watched Sophie close her eyes and run a hand over her face in blatant exhaustion. The gesture looked a lot like something Piper would do. Of course, seeing as it seemed like Sophie had grown up around them, it made sense she would have some of their mannerisms.

"Maybe they're sisters, and orphans?" Phoebe suggested uncertainly. "That'd explain why Sophie would be like a mother to Rose. Prue was like that with us." They shrugged and continued to watch as Sophie walked over to the bunkbed and sat down. Rose rolled to face the wall, her back to Sophie.

"I know it's rough," Sophie finally said. "And that you want to help. But you do help, without going on missions. You help in the infirmary, and the nursery, and with research and spellwriting. We need that support so much, Rose. And you getting killed-"

"Would let Wyatt receive my powers, and damage our morale, and yadda, yadda, yadda," Rose snapped, twisting to face Sophie. "I hate this! I hate all of it! I hate how you're always gone, risking your life on stupid missions that don't make a single goddamn difference, and-"

"They sound like they're soldiers in a war or something," Phoebe pointed out, discomfort on all their faces. Dread was mixed in for Piper and Leo, though. Sophie's admission regarding Wyatt, the whole reason that they cast the spell, rang through their minds.

"This isn't about me," Sophie sighed. "I just realized. Today would've been your mother's birthday, wouldn't it?"

Rose's eyes filled with renewed tears. "How could you not remember?" She whimpered. Sophie looked away, pain flashing over her face.

"I try not to think about them," she admitted. "It hurts less that way."

"That is so sad," Phoebe whispered, eyes filling with tears. Paige nodded, and Piper and Leo linked hands without noticing.

"Tell me about her," Rose begged. Sophie hesitated, a look of reluctance on her face. "Please," Rose pressed. "Just something. I barely remember her. I was only six when they died."

Sophie sighed, giving in. "Alright," she sighed, running a hand through Rose's wavy raven curls. "Your mother was," she paused to think before continuing. "Compassionate. She was always willing to give people second chances. You wouldn't have been born if she hadn't given your dad another chance. And she was great for confiding in. I could always go to her when I was upset about something. Mom and I were close, but I never wanted to burden her. "

"Do you think Wyatt ordered the attack?" Rose whispered the question.

"No!" Piper and Leo both denied together. Yes, Sophie had claimed that Wyatt was evil, but they couldn't bring themselves to believe it. Not without seeing it personally.

Sophie sighed again, looking away at one of the maps. "I think that it's likely," she admitted. Piper and Leo glared at her, shaking their heads. Phoebe and Paige meanwhile, exchanged anxious looks. After all, if the adult Charmed Ones could be turned evil by demons, a young baby certainly could.

"Why?" Rose begged. "Why them?"

Sophie stroked her hair as she answered. "The Charmed Ones were the most powerful witches alive," she reminded her. The observers stiffened in dread. Why was she talking about them instead of Rose's mother? And why was she implying that they were dead?

"They were the only ones who could have stood in his way," Sophie continued, looking drained. "And as for the others, he didn't want to risk that the Power of Three might be reformed by you and your sisters, or by any of the family."

"Would she be proud of me?" Rose asked. Phoebe felt her heart wrench painfully at the anguish in the young girl's eyes. Sophie managed a wan smile.

"Are you kidding me Primrose? Aunt Phoebe doted on all three of you. She would've been _so_  proud of you. Heck, she  _is_  proud of you."


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

 

 

 

"Oh my god!" All the sisters gasped in unison just before they were once again lifted up by the swirling tunnel. Upon landing, they started to hug and cry.

"My daughters are going to be murdered," Phoebe moaned in agony, collapsing on to the road.

Piper and Paige was both crying too, recognizing what must have happened to their family, but they knelt beside their sister and hugged her desperately. Leo's eyes were glimmering with tears, but he managed to control himself and study their surroundings.

"What the hell happened?" His outburst was so uncharacteristic that it jerked the sisters from their grief, and they too started looking around. Horror took over all their expressions at the sight of the ruined city.

All the buildings were damaged, with smoke and screaming coming from many. Despite that, only a few sirens could be heard. Several ginormous screens were proclaiming propaganda.  _'End the War! Let the Resistance End and Find Peace Under Twice-Blessed Rule! Report all suspected rebel sympathizers to the Peace Keepers. Defiance is Death._ All flashed across various screens. You couldn't even see the sky with all the smoke. And coming down the street towards them, dragging a wounded blonde woman, was Sophie.

She was younger than in the last memory, maybe around fourteen or fifteen. Already she was disturbingly thin, and her clothes were not only badly torn, but heavily covered with blood. One of her shoulders looked strange, and Leo quickly identified it as dislocated to the sisters. Her hair was singed and smoking, and she gasped for breath as she staggered along, the blonde woman stumbling forward as best she could.

"Oh god," Phoebe said, a hand pressed to her mouth. "How could all of this have happened?" The others shook their heads silently, equally devastated at the scene.

"I have to put you down, Aunt Billie," Sophie admitted, coming up to them. "I need a minute."

"Of course, honey," Billie tried to smile but failed as Sophie carefully helped her sit against a soot-stained alley wall, out of sight of the street, before kneeling beside her. They both looked tense, eyes flicking frequently to the mouth of the alley to check for people.

"You're so like your mom, you know," Billie sighed. Sophie looked startled at the non-sequitur, starting to shake her head in denial. "You _are,_ " Billie insisted. "And I don't mean your looks either. I mean your compassion, and strength, and how you never back down from doing the right thing, just because it's hard. You're an amazing witch. The Charmed Ones would be proud of you."

Sophie glanced away, sadness filling her gaze. "If they were here," she started. "None of this would've ever happened. They would've _fixed_  things." The sisters flinched, their guilt renewing itself at Sophie's faith.

Billie forced a weak smile, reaching out to clasp Sophie's hand. "You put them on a pedestal," she murmured. "They weren't perfect you know. It took them a lot of time to become the women you knew. They made mistakes, used personal gain a few times. They were human, and  _that_ , is what made them so good at being the Charmed Ones."

"I wonder how we're going to know Billie," Phoebe mused. "She must be a future innocent."

Suddenly Sophie's head jerked around and she scrambled to her feet. A twirl of her wrist had a cloud of blue making an athame appear in her tight grip as she looked around frantically.

"Apportation," Leo identified under his breath. He wrinkled his brow, suspicious at the display of strength. It was  _very_ rare for anyone outside the Warren witch line to have more than one power. So far, he knew that Sophie had orbing, telekinesis, and now apportation.

Panic flashed over Billie's face as she struggled to rise. Black orbs began to form and both of them looked terrified.

"Darklighter!" Paige shrieked in automatic fear. "Get out of there Sophie!"

The orbs formed into a young man, still a teenager really. His blue eyes were cold and full of contempt as he scanned the scene. He was dressed in a tight black shirt and black jeans. His features were terrifyingly familiar. 

"Wyatt," Piper whimpered in distraught recognition.

"No, no, no," Leo muttered desperately, shaking his head in denial. A minute later, Sophie confirmed their fears.

"Wyatt," she spat out, the loathing in her voice not quite covering her fear. "What do you want?"

Wyatt walked forward, a deadly smirk on his face. The observers were too horrified to speak, or even move.

"I want what I've always wanted, Sophia," he told her coldly. "Either your loyalty, or your head. Which do you prefer?"

Sophie glared at him defiantly, raising her left palm and holding her wrist in a 90 degree angle. "My head!" A jet of fire came from her hand and raced toward him. The observers gasped at the newest display of magic from their whitelighter, but Wyatt simply waved his own hand, releasing a wave of energy that destroyed the fire easily and made Sophie stumble from the backlash.

"Pitiful," he scoffed. "And honestly, Sophie. Mom died to save you, and now you just want to throw her sacrifice away? How could you?"

"What?" Phoebe whimpered. Piper had gone pale, Leo staring at her in disbelief and grief.

"Oh god, please no," Paige moaned.

Sophie looked stricken. She froze and was too slow to dodge the energy ball Wyatt threw at her despite Billie's yelled warning. It hit her straight in the stomach, making her double over.

"Arggh!"

Wyatt smirked cruelly at her pain. Then he raised his hand in a fist shape, aiming it at her. She groaned, collapsing to her knees.

"Do you like my new power, Sophia?" He chuckled darkly. "I just took it from an irritating warlock the other day. Blood boiling it's called. Victims of this power suffer intense pain, heatwaves and have difficulty breathing until they are eventually killed."

"Oh god, stop," Phoebe begged. Piper tried to blast her son, and when she failed began to rock back and forth on her heels, moaning in despair.

"No!" Billie yelled. She flung out an arm, sending Wyatt flying. She set her jaw, keeping him pinned with effort. "Sophie, go! Now, while I hold him off!"

"Billie-"

_"Go!"_

With a tortured expression on her face, Sophie flung down a vial, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Wyatt yelled in fury, and stalked toward Billie, having broken her grip.

"You'll pay for that," he hissed, using his own telekinesis to pin her against the wall. She began to choke, tears falling from her blue eyes.

"You won't win!" She gasped out breathlessly. "All through history, there have been tyrants, and murderers. In the end, they always fall. Always."

Wyatt clenched his fist, and Billie let out one final gasp before her eyes went blank with death. Wyatt stepped away, a disdainful sneer on his face. The tunnel once again took them away from the scene.

They were deposited in a nursery, and the sisters promptly hugged each other, sobbing hysterically. A coo distracted them. Piper, acting on autopilot, went to the crib where a small girl was standing and clutching the bars.

"I think it's Sophie," she sniffed.

"Probably," Leo agreed. His eyes were dead as the image of his teenage, evil, son continued to play out in his mind. Sophie had been telling the truth.

Paige nodded silently, her make-up ruined from crying. The door opened, and Future Piper again entered. She looked about the same age as their own Piper, but still had that scar on her cheek, newer than in the first memory. Her ring finger was still bare, Leo noted.

He shifted uncomfortably, realizing that he definitely couldn't place the blame for his divorce on Sophie anymore. Bile rose in his throat as he thought of how cruelly he'd treated her, when all along, it was the son he had considered perfect who. He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.

"Hey, look who's up?" Future Piper smiled, lifting Sophie from the crib and pulling her close to her chest. The baby instantly reached out, grabbing a lock of hair firmly and wrapping it around her fist, while sucking her other thumb. Future Piper laughed.

"Sweet," Phoebe murmured. "I wonder why she and Piper are so close?" The others shrugged, gazes fixed on the scene.

"Piper," at the sound of Leo's voice, Future Piper's smile died, and her eyes became guarded. Leo felt his own heart fall at the wary expression she wore at his presence.

"Leo," she answered curtly. "Can I help you?"

"Can I see her?" He asked, stepping into the room. He was dressed in Elder robes, with his hair completely white. Other than that, he looked exactly the same.

"Isn't it a bit late to be asking that?" Future Piper asked coldly. "I mean, she's almost seven months old now."

"Why do I get the feeling that we're missing something?" Paige wondered, wrinkling an eyebrow. The others all nodded in agreement, watching as Future Leo closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw for a moment before opening his eyes again.

"I know that you're upset," he began.

"No!" Piper snapped, twirling to face him. Sophie whimpered in distress at the angry tone, and Piper cradled her closer as if to reassure her that she wasn't upset with her.

"Don't patronize me, Leo," Piper continued in a lower, but still upset, tone. "I was the one who didn't think this would work out, remember? You insisted on fighting for us, despite everything. And then you left, off to become an Elder, and didn't come back until Wyatt's first birthday! He barely recognizes you now."

"What?" Present Leo exclaimed in disbelief. "I would never!"

"Apparently you did," his own Piper answered coldly, a hurt glint in her eye as her future self continued.

"And then you don't come when Sophie was being born, and Wyatt was kidnapped," Future Piper continued hotly. "And now, now, sixteen months since we last saw you, you come back. And not even to spend time with them! No, you're here because the Elders think it's time for Wyatt to start learning his powers! My two-year-old son! No, it's not happening Leo. I want you to leave. Now."

The observers stared in disbelief at the words. It didn't seem at all like the Leo they knew.

"No wonder Sophie doesn't like you," Paige told Leo bluntly. "I don't like you much right now either."

He looked down at the ground in shame as Future Leo huffed in irritation.

"Piper, I understand why you're so upset," he claimed. She scoffed and he pursed his lips. "But I have responsibilities! The Elders were decimated by the Titans, you know that. There's only five left, counting me!"

"Five?" Phoebe gasped in shock.

"What the heck?" Paige agreed as the scene continued.

"And with so much damage done, I don't have time to-"

"To see your children?" Future Piper snapped. "Yeah, that's obvious." Future Leo gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Piper," he began. She held up a hand, cutting him short.

"Go, Leo," she repeated stonily. "Wyatt is my son, you haven't had anything to do with him in two years. You have no right to make decisions about him, understand? Only I have that right, and I'm not letting him start being trained as some sort of warrior or whatever it is. Leave, and stay gone."

"We'll talk about this again later," Future Leo replied coolly. "When you're willing to be reasonable." He orbed away as Piper scoffed bitterly. Her shoulders slumped as she stared at the place where he had been standing, the veil of anger fading to reveal her pain. Leo felt his heart clench at the sight.

Sophie cooed at her, placing a wet fist against her cheek as if to comfort her. Future Piper pressed a kiss to the top of her head as they were again sucked up by the tunnel.

"Well," Paige announced dryly after they landed in a basement. "I'm really pissed at Leo now, anyone else with me?"

"I am," Leo wryly admitted. "No wonder Sophie hates me so much." The three sisters all nodded their heads in agreement with him, equally irritated by his future-self's actions.

"So where are we now, do you think?" Paige asked, looking around the room. "Actually, when do you think that the spell will end?"

Leo shrugged. "When it's shown everything that we need to know, I guess," he said. "As for where we are, it actually reminds me a lot of the rooms where Allie sympathizers would hide Jews during World War II."

"Maybe it  _is_  a safehouse then," Phoebe suggested. "I mean, in the second scene, it definitely seemed as if Sophie and," she hesitated as she mentioned the girl who hadn't fully left her mind since that memory. "Rose were a part of some sort of military group. Maybe this is one of the safehouses that they mentioned."

The others nodded in agreement as the door opened and three figures entered. There was a woman, aged with a worried expression, and two others.

"Is that Niko?" Paige asked in surprise.

"I guess," Piper replied coldly. She didn't like the Phoenix on principal before, now, knowing she would know Sophie for most of the girl's life, she hated him for breaking her heart. "What happened to Sophie? She looks really hurt."

Indeed, Sophie was in bad shape. Her head was lolling against Niko's shoulder, blood leaking from a cut on her forehead and there was a bad burn covering most of her left side.

"Lay her down there," the woman instructed, pointing to a low camp-bed while hurrying to a row of shelves where some supplies were. She grabbed a med-kit and scurried back to the bed where Niko was using a knife a cut off the remains of Sophie's top to see her injuries better.

The sisters groaned at the sight as Niko accepted the supplies with a curt thanks.

"I've got to go back up," the woman told him. "If they come to search and I amn't there."

Niko nodded. "I know, it's fine," he said, beginning to clean Sophie's wound. The unconscious girl, about sixteen or seventeen this time, groaned in pain. The Charmed Ones flinched in sympathy as the woman hurried back up the stairs.

There was silence for a while as they watched Niko quietly tend Sophie, only broken by her occasional sounds of pain. Finally, she stirred and blinked her eyes open.

"Niko? What happened?" She groaned, struggling to sit up.

"You should stay lying down," Niko sighed, helping her sit up and propping a few cushions behind her back to help. She nodded in appreciation of his help, glancing around.

"So," she prompted. "Where are we, actually?"

"Connecticut," he replied. "We're at the Beckham house." Sophie looked alarmed at that, struggling to move. Niko lightly pushed her back onto her pillows.

"The Beckhams? Sienna Beckham is a known witch and rebel! They're watched in case she contacts them! What were you thinking, going here?"

"That they were the closest allies that I knew off," he retorted. "You needed medical attention. Speaking off, what the hell were you thinking? Amaynon nearly killed you!"

Sophie set her jaw stubbornly. "I was thinking that I'm stronger than you," she snapped. "So I should be the one to deal with the stronger opponent. Anyways, it worked didn't it?" Niko threw his hands in the air, standing to pace.

"You're getting reckless, Sophia," he told her. She opened her mouth to snap back, an indignant look on her face as he pushed on.

"You need to stop with the hole, tossing yourself on your own sword thing," he continued. "The resistance needs you, Rose needs you, I-" he abruptly stopped speaking, going pale. Sophie stared at him, shock in her green eyes.

"You what?" She asked lowly when he didn't continue. "Niko, you what?"

"I need you, okay?" He admitted. "I'm in love with you, you damn witch."

Phoebe's romantic heart took over and she let out a dreamy sigh. Her sisters shot her exasperated looks and she shrugged sheepishly at her.

"I, I didn't know that you felt that way," Sophie stammered, looking lost.

"Well, I do," Niko bit out. Sophie looked down at her hands, clenching and releasing them.

"I don't know what to say," she whispered finally.

Niko gave a bitter smile. "You could tell me how you feel about me," he offered. "I don't expect a love declaration, just want to know whether I'm just a handy spy you sleep with every so often."

"That's inappropriate," Piper muttered lowly. Sophie stared at the assassin, looking wary beyond her years.

"I don't like to care about anyone," she said softly. "It hurts too much."

"I thought that you believed in doing the right thing over the easy thing," Niko raised an eyebrow at her. His expression hardened. "I don't want any obligatory words, Sophie. Just,  _something_."

A determined look crept over Sophie's face, and she forced herself to her feet, swaying. Niko scrambled to help her stand. She cradled his face in her hands. "I don't do obligatory words," she reminded him before leaning in and pressing her lips to his.

Once again, the swirling tunnel swept them up, Phoebe complaining that she wanted to stay as it did so.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

This time, they were in the Manor hallway. Piper and Leo were facing each with angry expressions. They didn't seem to be quite as far along as the first memory, but definitely further than the one with Baby Sophie. There were various balloons floating around, and a banner saying Happy Birthday Sophie! On it.

"Look," Paige pointed out, pointing at the stairs. Sophie was crouching by the bars on the landing, her face tearstreaked and dressed in party clothes.

"She must be about seven or eight, do you think?" Piper studied her with a concerned frown. The others nodded in agreement.

"How could you Leo?" Future Piper bit out, looking enraged. "I mean, you've pulled a lot of stunts over the years, but this is a whole new low, even for you."

"What does that mean?" Future Leo demanded defensively. Present Leo shifted, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Future Piper glared back at him. "What it means," she hissed. "Is that you have been promising for months, for  _months_ , Leo, that you'd come to the party. And then, the party comes and what do you do? Don't arrive, and then send a note halfway through apologising and saying that you're too  _busy_  with  _more important_  things to come!"

"God, Leo," Paige muttered. "You should be ashamed of yourself for doing that to a little kid."

"I am," he replied glumly, looking at the floor with slumped shoulders.

"She's constantly trying to make you be happy with her," Future Piper continued, still furious. "She goes to Magic School, even though she hates it there, because you insist on it. She's in the top part of her class,  _after_  being moved forward a grade, but it's never good enough for you! God, Leo, sometimes I even think you forget that  _Sophie is your daughter_!"

"Oh my god!" Phoebe gasped, eyes wide as the pieces finally slid into place. How could they not have realized? It was practically stated outright.  _"Your child_ _ **ren**_ _,"_ Piper had said in an earlier scene. Children, as in plural. Oh god, Leo had hit his own daughter. He neglected her in the future for the sake of his Elder duties. What kind of man was he?

Future Leo looked upset. "That's not fair Piper," he insisted. Piper's eyes flashed dangerously in reply. "I love Sophie, you know that."

"No, Leo, I don't know that," Future Piper replied flatly. "Actions speak louder than words, and nothing you've done since her birth, hell nothing you've done since I got pregnant has made me believe that you love her."

Future Leo looked hurt, as Leo felt the remains of his heart break in half. Then, as Future Leo was about to answer, he glanced up. Future Piper scowled in frustration.

"Let me guess," she scoffed. " _They_  need you, and it takes  _precedence._ " Future Leo looked defeated.

"We'll finish this later," he told her before orbing away. Piper stared stonily at the space where he'd standing before glancing up and spotting Sophie, crying silently in the stairwell.

"Oh honey," she sighed. Sophie orbed to her, immediately burying her face in her mother's stomach. Piper wrapped her arms around her daughter and started swaying with her from side-to-side.

"I'm so sorry, baby," she whispered. "I love you, I'm sorry." Sophie continued to cry, shoulders shaking from the force of her tears as they were again taken from the scene by the tunnel.

Piper turned to Leo as soon as she was steady on her feet. "If you ever treat our children like that," she told him, voice cold as ice. "I'll send you to a Darklighter lair." He had no doubt that she was speaking the truth, and nodded silently in acknowledgement.

"It makes so much sense," Paige muttered. "I can't believe we didn't put everything together earlier."

"No kidding," Phoebe agreed. She glanced around tensely, anticipating yet another distressing memory being about to play out. Her brown eyes widened as she recognized the room, and its' occupant.

"We're in Sophie and Rose's hut again," Phoebe pointed out. "What's Rose doing, do you think?"

"it looks like she's summoning someone," Piper answered distractedly, thoughts consumed with her children. She was going to get the daughter that she always wanted.

She loved Wyatt more than anything of course, but Piper had always expected a girl. She had been slightly disappointed that it would be footballs and mud, instead of the tea parties and dolls that she anticipated. In the first memory, Sophie had looked a bit like a girly-girl, dressed in a denim skirt and purple top. Piper guessed that she probably would've been more interested in girl stuff if not for the dystopian future she came from.

Once Wyatt was saved, which they  _would_  do, she silently swore to herself. Her daughter was never going to have to suffer the pain she had seen, and her son was not going to become the Source. Not while Piper could stop it from happening.

"I call upon the Warren line, to boost the power of my rhyme," Rose chanted. "Hear my words, hear my cry. Spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee, cross now the great divide."

In a swirl of lights, Piper appeared.

"Oh my god," Paige gasped yet again at the sight of her sister's ghost. "You're really gone." They all glanced desperately at the current Piper, frantic to see her breathing and whole.

"Hello, Prim," Ghost Piper smiled lovingly at her niece, stepping out of the circle of candles and solidifying. She scooped Rose into a hug.

"Hey, Aunt Piper," Rose sighed reverently. "I didn't think that it would work. And, Goddess. No one's called me Prim in years."

"Calling on our family line was an excellent idea, sweetheart," Piper told her warmly. "I wouldn't have managed to appear if you hadn't boosted the spell."

Rose smiled back as the door opened and Sophie entered, looking almost exactly like when she had appeared in their attic several months before. She froze in shock, staring at her mother's ghost.

"Mom?"

Ghost Piper opened her arms. "Peanut," she said lovingly. "It's really me, I swear."

"How?" Sophie asked unsteadily, eyes shining. "Seancés haven't worked in ages."

"I called on the Warren line to help," Rose admitted. "Happy birthday, Sophie."

"Thank you," she whispered, eyes still fixed on Piper. She didn't seem to notice as Rose slipped past and out the door. Once it closed, however, she hesitantly moved forward, until she was gripping her mother in a desperate embrace. It seemed as though she was trying to burn the feel of Piper's hug into her memory.

"I'm here," Ghost Piper assured her, stroking her daughter's hair. "I'm here, I promise."

"I've missed you so much," Sophie admitted brokenly as they pulled back slightly. Present Piper felt her eyes fill with tears again, anguished over her child's suffering.

"I've missed you too, Peanut," Ghost Piper sighed. "I'm so proud of you, you know."

Sophie bit her lip, glancing down. "I haven't been good enough," she admitted. "I can't kill him, and the world's paying for it. I'm so sorry. I failed everything that you ever taught me."

"No," Piper insisted adamantly. "You haven't. You've been amazing Baby. If anyone here failed, it's me. No, it's true," she continued as Sophie started to shake her head. "I didn't protect Wyatt properly, and I let his destiny be more important than his life, and he turned as a result. You shouldn't have all this on your shoulders Baby. You didn't do anything wrong."

She took in the expression on Sophie's face, sighing. "My death was not your fault," she insisted. "The Underworld knew that we were vulnerable when we were separated, and they took advantage of our need to protect our children. I don't regret saving you, and I never will. Just as Phoebe doesn't regret trying to save Pamela, and Paige died for Henry to escape. It was our duty as mothers and we did it happily. Understand, Baby?"

"They used our children to kill us, the bastards," Paige muttered, gripping Phoebe's hand tightly.  _"Paige died for Henry,"_  echoing in her mind.

Sophie gave a half nod, and Piper relaxed.

"I'm going to time travel," Sophie blurted out. "Stop this before it ever starts. It's the only way."

Ghost Piper nodded in acceptance, tucking a strand of Sophie's hair behind her ear. "Like when I taught you to cook," she murmured in agreement. "Sometimes the food's too burnt to be saved. You have to dump it and start over again instead."

Sophie looked at the floor. "I'm going to change so much," she told Piper. "I'll basically be playing God, erasing people from existence, changing their whole lives to achieve my own goals."

"It's a hard thing to do, I know," Piper sighed heavily. "But it's better than living in this hell for their entire lives. This is no way to live, Baby. And remember what we've always said to you? Innocents first, even before family. It's our goddess given duty as Warren witches. You understand that better than anyone, even more than your aunts and I did."

"This was never supposed to be me," Sophie breathed, tears shimmering in her olive-coloured eyes. "I was never meant to be the one everyone relied on to save them. That was supposed to be Wyatt."

Piper looked pained, stroking Sophie's hair as she pulled her close again. "I'm so sorry Baby," she murmured. "I wouldn't wish this responsibility on anyone, especially not you. Not because I don't think you can do it," she added hastily. "But because I never wanted the pressure I felt as a Charmed One to be on your shoulders."

Sophie let out a shaky breath, pulling back and going to sit on the bunk, Ghost Piper sitting beside her, clasping her hand.

"So, what are you planning on telling our past-selves?" Piper asked gently. Sophie played with a bracelet on her wrist, from which several gemstones, all used for protection, magic enhancment, clarity of mind and other such things, hung.

"I was going to tell them everything," she admitted uncertainly. "I thought it would be best."

"She what?" Phoebe and Paige exclaimed.

"Why didn't she then?" Paige wondered. Her answer came a second later when Ghost Piper shook her head.

"No, honey," she insisted. "You can't."

"Why not?" Phoebe demanded grumpily. Her niece echoed her question, looking bemused.

"Because," Piper informed her daughter. "It's too dangerous. Time travel has rules. If you reveal your identity, it might change your conception, thus erasing you." She looked agonized at thought, and the past Charmed Ones all went white, heads snapping to look at Leo, who nodded grimly.

"We won't let it happen," Phoebe assured her older sister, grasping Piper's hand. The eldest sister gave a tense squeeze in reply, not removing her gaze from the scene in front of her.

"And if someone came from the future, claiming to be my unborn child, and that my son was going to be evil and take over the world, I would never have believed them," Ghost Piper went on solemnly, Sophie nodding in understanding. "In fact, I probably would have just killed them."

"Okay," Sophie agreed. "I get it. What should I do, then?"

Piper smiled back at her. "We'll need a new Whitelighter after Leo leaves," she pointed out. "In fact, if you arrive at the start of the Titan crisis, you could end it early. It was four months before Leo finally got up the courage to turn us into gods, and Wyatt saw so much destruction during that time, it probably had a scarring effect on his mind, he was so young."

"Oh wow, I can't believe that it got so bad in Sophie's timeline," Paige muttered.

"And losing so many of the Elders and Whitelighters damaged the balance," Piper went on. "If you went back to when Paige was turned to stone, and stopped her orbing power being taken, and then convinced Leo to change us into gods then, instead of after four months, it'll do a lot of good."

Sophie nodded thoughtfully. "I need a way to put you guys on your guard without coming outright and admitting what happened to Wyatt," she pointed out. "And a full time frame. I'm not really sure what happened?"

Piper nodded. "Whatever took him was invisible," she informed her daughter. "I was on bedrest for my pregnancy and they took him when I was alone in the house." Her eyes were full of guilt as she spoke. "The stress sent me into premature labour with you. You should have been born in November, not mid-October."

Sophie nodded in recognition, while Present Piper's hand flew to her stomach, as if to shield the baby who was yet to be conceived from harm.

"Set your birthday as your timelimit," Piper instructed Sophie. "That gives you seventeen months to find who goes after Wyatt, while at the same not risking anything by staying past your birth, or interfering with Cole coming back from Limbo and remarrying Phoebe. Bear in mind that your arrival might put them on guard, and change their timeline as well."

"Did she just say Cole?" Paige shrieked. "How many times do we have to vanquish him for him to stay dead?"

Phoebe was white, her mouth open as Ghost Piper went on.

"And as for putting us on our guard, do something ostentatious but not genuinely dangerous."

"Can I do something to Leo?" Sophie asked mischievously. Ghost Piper laughed, while Leo's heart sunk at the renewed evidence of how bad his relationship with his family went.

"Yes, fine," Piper agreed. "I won't hold it against you."

Suddenly, everything turned a bright, blinding white, before it melted away to reveal that the spell was over. They were back in the attic, Sophie in front of them with a worried expression, and Wyatt resting on her hip. She stepped forward, her concern obvious as she spoke.

"What happened? Where were you guys, and why'd you leave Wyatt alone?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie visits some (future) old friends, and goes looking for her 'missing' family.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.**

**Thanks everyone who followed, favourited or commented on this story. I'm really honoured, everyone was lovely. I honestly didn't expect it to do so well.**

 

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_**Texas bar: 19** _ _**th** _ _**January, 2004** _

It really sucked that she was several years too early for either Daughtry or the Script. Sophie could really have used her favourite musicians right now. As it was, she was listening to a DJ play U2 in some club she didn't know the name of in Texas. A glass of Coke was in her left hand. Sophie had only ever drunk alcohol when she needed medical attention and had no painkillers available. She was to desperate to stay in control to risk alcohol.

She sighed heavily and sipped her drink, contemplating what to do now. The fact that she had saved Wyatt might stop Piper from killing her over the power binding thing, but when it came to the eldest Charmed One defending her children, there was no guarantee. In addition, Sophie wasn't sure if her saving the baby would make up for her revelation about his future morality.

She sighed again, raking a hand through her thin brunette locks. As a teenager, it had been thick and soft, she remembered. Piper would sit behind her at the vanity in the master bedroom, and give her hair a hundred strokes every night. Part of their 'mother-daughter bonding time', Piper called it. Combined with daily shampooing and conditioning, Sophie had considered her hair her best feature. Now though, it was short, thin, and often tangled.

A dry smirk played at the edge of Sophie's lips. The sisters would never believe that Sophie had loved being girly and artsy as a child. Of course, war had quickly put things on perspective for the eldest Charmed daughter. What use was nail polish when you needed to find food for several thousand people after all?

Abruptly, Sophie found herself standing and leaving the club. She needed, desperately, to remind herself of why she was doing this. Why she put up with her family's cruel words, and her father's stalking and harassment. And she knew where to get that reminder. She ducked into an empty alley and orbed away.

* * *

_**Bennet Estate, Connecticut: 19** _ _**th** _ _**January, 2004** _

She rematerialized in an empty clearing, and glanced around to double-check that she was alone before whispering a well-used spell.  _"Let me fade into the air, let those who seek me know not where. Let them who seek me, pass me by, let no harm reach me from their eye."_

It might have come from a Septimus Heap book, but when a witch said it, it certainly worked.

Suitably hidden and protected, Sophie began traipsing through the Bennets' forest, treading the well-worn path. As a child, she had spent hours upon hours running through these trees, playing with her closest friends. She broke through the treeline and instantly spotted the family playing in the snow.

Alice Bennet had one of her three-month-old twin sons wrapped in a blanket in her arms, while her husband Anthony held the other boy. Archer, a year older than his brothers, was toddling around with an amazed expression as he picked up handfuls of snow and shoved them in his mouth.

Megan Beckham laughed as her six-month-old daughter Sienna squirmed in her grip. Laura Cunningham passing her eight months pregnant daughter Stacey a cup of some hot drink while Rose Beckham told some story. Sophie swallowed, suddenly overcome by the memory of how she'd met her friends.

* * *

_**Knox Academy: 12** _ _**th** _ _**January 2011** _

_Sophie bit her lip as she stared at the ground. She was standing at the top of the room beside Headmaster Knox, who had a hand resting gently on her shoulder. She peeked through her lashes at the room. Unsurprisingly, as she had skipped a grade, Sophie was obviously the youngest in the class._

_"Everybody, this is Sophie Bennet," Knox introduced. Sophie shifted uncomfortably at the use of her grandfather's surname._

_This was the compromise her mother had come up with after Sophie had returned from Magic School in tears for the fifth time in a month. She would attend Knox Academy under a pseudonym, away from the cruel comments about her failure to be a 'proper Warren witch', and difficulties with controlling her magic. At least here she would learn both magic and regular subjects. And be away from the Elders, both of which had Piper over the moon._

_"Sophie, this is your teacher, Miss Kyra," Knox told her, gesturing to the kind looking woman standing beside him. She gave a warm smile to the nervous girl, stepping closer._

_"There's a free seat next to Sienna," Miss Kyra informed her warmly. She pointed towards an empty seat in the middle of the classroom, where a girl with bright red hair was sitting with two twin boys seated in front and behind her. Sienna gave a cheerful wave and Sophie stumbled over. It was the start of Sophie being brought into a friendship that would last the ages._

* * *

Sophie leaned against a nearby tree, tears stinging her eyes as she her thoughts turned to remembering their fates in her timeline. Megan, her mortal husband, Stacey, and both Bennets would die in a fight with a pair of warlocks in 2013. Their children, Sophie's best friends, would suffer for their childhood decision to befriend the quiet Halliwell daughter.

Sarah Bennet, a sweet geokinetic who wasn't due to be born until Sophie was three months old, would die at the very beginning in the attack on Knox Academy, taking a knife for Declan. Three years later, Kate Cunningham would also sacrifice herself to save her boyfriend. Declan would be devastated by the dual losses, and disappear on his own personal suicide mission.

Rose Beckham and Laura Cunningham, who had ended up raising the four Bennet children, as well as their grandchildren, would kill themselves to anchor the wards for the Resistance's main base at Valhalla.

Sienna would be traumatized by everything that happened. She would refuse to practise magic until her fiancé Archer was executed by Witch Hunters. The next day she would go to one of their headquarters, and burn the place down. She would die in the process from the smoke inhalation, and Sophie, along with everyone else who had met the redhead, had always been certain that was exactly her goal.

Ethan, the youngest Bennet son, would become just as hard and bitter as Sophie. He slept around, letting no one in to his battered heart. He was an amazing tactician though, and Sophie knew that the Resistance would never have even started if not for his help. She had left him to run the Resistance in her place when she went back in time.

But right now, some of them weren't even born, and the ones that existed were happy. And, Sophie silently swore. They would stay that way. Sarah would live, Archer and Sienna would get married, to jokes about how Sienna was a pyrokinetic and Archer a hydro. Declan and Kate would also have the life they had dreamed of, and Ethan would learn what it was like to do something other than fight a war. Lifting her chin as if to defy the heavens, Sophie orbed away again.

* * *

_**Halliwell Manor: 20** _ _**th** _ _**January, 2004** _

Only years of disasters had kept Sophie from panicking when she felt her family suddenly disappear. Or at least, her parents and aunts. Thankfully, she could still sense Wyatt.

She quickly orbed from the back room of P3, where she'd been bent over her list of demonic threats, and into the Manor hallway. Keeping her hands raised in preparation for an attack, she systematically searched every room, starting from the basement and continuing up to the attic. There she found Wyatt in his playpen, sniffling in distress.

"Hey, it's okay," Sophie soothed him, picking him up and rocking him to comfort him. It was a relief that he wasn't putting up his shield around her anymore. "What happened, huh?" She asked, scanning the room. Her frown deepened at the lack of clues. There were no signs of a fight, but Sophie couldn't believe that Piper would ever willingly leave her infant son alone. Not the mother she knew. Although, this young Piper was very different from the tired woman who'd raised and loved her, she was still Piper Halliwell, dedicated to the protection of her babies. Or bab _y_ in this case.

Wyatt leaned forward to rest his wet cheek against her collarbone, feelings of misery and hunger coming down their bond.

"Okay," Sophie sighed, blowing a wisp of hair that had come lose from her plait out of her eyes. "First let's get you a bottle. Then we can work on finding Mommy. How's that sound, Bro?"

He sniffled, and she felt part of her heart break at the sadness he was sending to her. It made her uncomfortable to feel bad for any version of Wyatt, so she built a mental wall around the link. Now, she could feel he was alive, but that was all. It was for the best, at least for her sanity's sake, anyway.

Resting him on her hip, she orbed down to the kitchen. She paused there for a minute, dredging up faded memories of helping her mother and aunts prepare bottles for her younger family members. It had always made her feel so proud of herself, to be helping take care of them. Sophie couldn't count how often she'd been left in charge of the younger ones at the Manor while the family was away demon hunting. She wondered how the sisters would react, knowing that in the future they went demon hunting every weekend.

_"Offense is the best defence, little angel,"_ she heard her Aunt Paige, the older woman who had lost her orbing power, if not her life, to the Titans, advise her mentally. _"We need to make sure that they know we're strong, so they'll keep away from you guys."_

But then the Underworld had realized that if the sisters were separated, they'd be doomed if the numbers were high enough. The Charmed Ones had died and with Wyatt off taking over the Underworld, and Grandpa sick, Sophie had become the  _de facto_  head of the Halliwell family. Only for all of them to be systematically hunted down and killed, in one way or another.

Sophie shook her head to clear her thoughts of her future family members, lifting the bottle to Wyatt's lips. The young toddler quickly began suckling greedily at it, soon finishing it off. While he was eating, Sophie headed back up to the attic. A few waves of her hand had the scrying supplies out, with objects belonging to each of the missing. She settled her baby big brother on her lap and started scrying.

Half an hour later, she threw the crystal down in disgust. "This is not working," she growled. Unlike the sisters of this time, Sophie didn't waste time by repeating actions that had failed already. Instead she stood and began to pace after placing Wyatt in his playpen.

"Summoning them is probably my best bet," she finally decided. She paused to grimace at the quiet baby. "See what you've done to me? I'm talking to thin air." She huffed at his innocent blink and headed over to the Book to search for some summoning spells.

Once she had three selected, she started with the 'To Call A Lost Witch' spell. Unsurprisingly, it failed. After that, she tried the second spell, before sighing in resignation.

"I really hope this one works," she muttered to herself. (She could pretend to be speaking to the baby, but she'd already accepted her mental instability a long time ago.)

She waved her hand, setting up the newest ritual, and kneeled in the circle. Without batting an eyelid, she jabbed a pin into her finger and squeezed out several drops of blood.

"Blood to blood I summon thee, blood to blood return to me," she chanted several times, focusing on her family's charges' faces. A swirl of white lights began, and she scrambled up, Wyatt orbing into her arms. She shifted him into a better position on her left hip as the lights coalesced into the missing Halliwells. She frowned in concern as she realized that the girls had been crying, while Leo looked devastated, like his whole world had just been destroyed. (And Sophie would know.)

She stepped forward, still holding her brother. "What happened? Where were you guys, and why'd you leave Wyatt alone?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.**

**AN: I'm really sorry, I thought I'd uploaded this chapter. This is chapter five, the one with Sophie killing the demon clan is chapter six. Again, so sorry for the mix up.**

**Chapter Five**

Piper stared at Sophie, barely registering that she had asked a question. Waves seemed to be rushing in her ears and she could barely breathe as the recent revelations all seemed to finally hit her properly now that they were back in the attic. She was going to have a daughter, her son was going to become evil and do unfathomable damage to the world, she and her sisters and her sisters' families would all be slaughtered, and her babies were going to suffer.

That was the worst thing she had learnt that day. The day that Wyatt was born, and Phoebe had handed him to her for the first time, Piper Halliwell knew that she was borne to be a mother. The thought of her babies suffering because Piper failed in her God-given duty to protect her little miracle was agonizing. She studied Sophie, her daughter's features. Unlike Wyatt, who was just like Leo but with blue eyes from Melinda Warren, Sophie was more Piper.

She had brown hair, currently pulled into a tight French plait, that reached just past her shoulders when loose. She had the same green eyes as Prue, but harder and more guarded. Her face shape was Piper's, as were her eyebrows. She had cheekbones like Phoebe's with Paige's sarcasm, and Prue's habit of getting obsessed with something to the point of forgetting to take care of herself.

She was past thin, into malnourished. Her skin was pasty from being in the Underworld so often, and there were dark circles under eyes. She was dressed in clothes that were practical, but did nothing for her appearance, and she wore no make-up. Piper felt her lip tremble as she realized that she wouldn't be around to teach her daughter how looking nice was important for a woman's confidence. She wouldn't see her babies grow up.

A sob broke free, and she felt her legs give out from grief. "I'm sorry," she whimpered. "Oh God, my babies, I'm so sorry. I never wanted this for you, I'm so sorry."

Sophie's green eyes, the only feature she'd inherited from her father by the looks of it, widened in alarm. "Piper? What are you talking about? Seriously, guys, what happened?"

A look of unease went over her expression as she took in their faces. Phoebe's lip was trembling violently as she sunk to her knees beside her sister to try and comfort her.

Paige stared at her niece, opening and closing her mouth. She couldn't figure out what to say. After all they'd said and done to her, Paige wouldn't blame her for hating them. Not only had they caused this mess in the first place by not protecting Wyatt, but when their daughter/niece came back to fix their mess, they hadn't even taken her and her desperate pleas seriously.

She grimaced remembering her words from several months ago.  _"We've been doing this a lot longer than you, Sophie,"_  God, they had been so condescending, never taking her seriously. And she had been wrong too. They couldn't begin to compete with Sophie's experience. After all, none of the sisters had ever been in a war, and Leo had died early on in World War II, so how could their combined few years of practicing magic begin to compare to Sophie's lifetime of demon attacks, and years long, and extremely vicious, war with her own brother?

Her shame deepened, remembering how Leo had attacked the young witchlighter, and they had done nothing but tell him to stop. Whether they knew of their relation or not, they had a basic responsibility as the Charmed Ones to protect everyone, from family or from others. Hell, they had a responsibility as human beings to intervene when someone was being assaulted. She avoided Sophie's confused and worried look, wallowing in her guilt.

Leo too was horrified at his recent behaviour. He'd already started to feel bad about how he'd treated Sophie since meeting her, but now he was almost crippled with shame. What kind of Elder, heck, what kind of person was he to attack, beat, and stalk any young woman, let alone one who'd risked everything to save his son.

Her brother, because that same girl he'd been so cruel toward was his daughter. And not only did he treat her worse than a demon in this time, but he had neglected her in the future too. He let out a guttural moan as his thoughts went around in circles, Sophie and Wyatt at the centre.

Sophie was genuinely alarmed now. She had never seen any of her fami-  _charges_ act like this. Leo was also acting very out-of-character. Then she registered that Piper was saying bab _ies_ as in the plural, meaning more than one. Her heart leapt into her throat as her eyes frantically took in each of the Halliwells' distraught looks.

"What did you do?" Her voice was shrill, and out of pure desperation, she looked Leo in the eye and opened her telepathy to see his mind. She took in a sudden, confusing mix of images with one thing in common. They were all of her world, and her life. She went ashen, shaking her head in horror.

"Oh, god," she breathed, stumbling away from them. Leo made as if to reach for her and she recoiled, fury and terror warring for dominance on her expression.

"Don't touch me!" She exclaimed hysterically. "How dare you?! You had no right! Get away from me!" With that final demand, she orbed away, still clutching Wyatt tightly, as if he was anchoring the remaining shreds of her sanity to her.

* * *

She stumbled as she reformed in London. At least Big Ben and the London Eye were both in sight, so she assumed it was London anyway. Wyatt squirmed unhappily and she blinked down at him uncomprehendingly.

"Oh, I bought you with me," she mumbled. "Okay, gimme a second." She waved her hand, and a blue sling appeared in her hand. She awkwardly put him in it and headed to a nearby bench to sit down before beginning to stare blankly out over the Thames.

"I can't believe that they did that," she breathed. "What the hell am I gonna do now?" Wyatt gurgled and patted her cheek with his tiny (and wet with slobber) hand. She snorted slightly.

"You're about as good as I am at comforting people," she told him. She gave him a half-hearted smile to try and ease any sting he felt from her tense tone of voice. It quickly disappeared however, as her temper began to rise. While Sophie had a better grip on her emotions than most of her family, she was still a Halliwell, with a Halliwell's temper. Her eyes hardened as she considered what she had just learned.

"And now they're all so fucking sorry about everything," she hissed in fury. "What because now that they know I'm family it makes all the hell they've put me through wrong? I didn't realize that was part of the family code, do what you like to non-relatives, but not to family. Fucking  _b_ _itches_!"

Wyatt looked solemnly up at her as she ranted on. She stood and began to pace, feeling her powers, almost all triggered by anger, stir under her skin and it only darkened her mood.

"They had no right!" She exclaimed. "They know perfectly well that it's dangerous to know too much about the future. Just by knowing that Rose exists in my timeline they might have erased her, the selfish bitches!" She continued to pace and rant, struggling to keep her more volatile abilities leashed.

She knew it was a bad idea, that as long as Wyatt was with her she should avoid demons for his sake. But Wyatt had a forcefield, and Sophie was familiar with the dangers that came from her repressing her more volatile powers. Last time she'd done so for any amount of time, she'd ended up destroying everything within a ten-block radius when they'd finally burst out of her body. So, justifying her actions with the memory of the ruined Pakistani scenery, she orbed down to the Underworld. If anyone who had ever crossed a Warren witch had seen her expression right then, they would've headed straight for a nuclear bunker.

* * *

"How'd she know?" Paige asked after her niece and nephew had disappeared.

"Telepathy," Leo replied, closing his eyes in pain. "I felt it, usually I wouldn't but she wasn't being very careful. Too worried I guess."

"Well, I think that we did worse," Phoebe pointed out cynically, wiping her eyes. "We should give her a bit to calm down before going after her."

"You'd can't be serious!" Piper protested, struggling to her feet. "My emotionally-unstable daughter with a demon hunting obsession has just run off with her infant brother who may grow up to be the Source of All Evil, and you want to leave her alone?!"

"Phoebe's right, Piper," Leo interjected lowly. He hurried on as she turned her furious glare on him. "Sophie's too upset to listen to us right now, and rightfully so. We need to give her time, and make sure that she understands that we don't regret how we've treated her because she's family, we regret it because it was wrong. She's not gonna believe it at first. We have to take this all at her pace, not ours. Sophie has to be our priority right now."

Piper turned a fiery glare on her ex-husband as she spoke. "Sophie  _always_  has to be our priority, Leo," she hissed at him. "In case you've forgotten, she's our daughter!" Anger was clear on her face as she then blew up her ex-husband before turning to stalk out of room.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Halliwells' reactions to the day's revelations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.**

**I hope you all enjoy the new chapter. R &R**

**Chapter Six**

_**The Underworld: 21st January, 2004** _

Sophie conjured a circle of fire, trapping the clan within. Wyatt squirmed in the sling, and she sent him a dose of calmness and safety through their bond. He eased, snuggling into her breast as she looked over the angry demons with a sneer.

She hated her sneer, as it matched her brother's. Despite that, it also matched Piper's sneer when facing down demons, and the entire Underworld had a healthy fear of the expression. In Sophie's time, seeing  _any_ one with that expression, generally triggered mass evacuations, as it meant there was an angry Warren witch around. And that meant someone was going to die. Sophie was almost as feared as her brother in the 2020s.

To reinforce the danger of angering a Halliwell, Sophie stuck out her palm, wrist tilted up in a perfect 90 degree angle. A column of flame shot out, darting through the circle the clan was trapped in and taking out three at once. Without pausing, Sophie followed it up with a blast of ice, freezing another two. A wave of telekinesis destroyed the frozen demons. All within the space of a minute.

The clan surged in outrage, and several foolishly leapt over the flames to attack her. Sophie slammed her wrists together, a bolt of lightning streaking out and blasting four of the demons. Swiftly, the witch spun to face the ones she'd heard creeping up on her and began twisting her left wrist.

The nearby lake, the reason Sophie had chosen this particular clan to be the victims of her wrath, began copying her movements. A long strand of water rose, forming into a tiny hurricane when she combined it with her aerokinesis and electrokinesis.

The hurricane followed her directions, Sophie's face screwed up in determination as she struggled to control the miniature storm despite her growing exhaustion. The demons screamed and tried futilely to defend themselves from the storm as the hurricane swept through the cavern. Fortunately, as Sophie was too occupied with her creation to even consider dodging the energy balls being tossed her way, Wyatt put up his shield, protecting them both from their enemies' attacks.

The final demon screamed as he was vanquished by the tempest, and Sophie hastily orbed away. She was smart enough to know when to retreat, unlike the majority of the denizens of the Underworld, and she knew that she had lost control of her storm. Sophie was  _not_  atmokinetic, despite some's belief. She reappeared several caverns away and promptly dropped to her knees, panting for breath.

"Damn it," she cursed bitterly, a fresh wave of resentment rising within her. It shouldn't be so difficult to control her own abilities, but Sophie's powers hadn't grown naturally. What the current Charmed Ones didn't understand was just how important it was not to force the growth of your powers.

You started with the most basic version of your main power and any advancements were supposed to come over the course of twenty-one years. You reached the pinnacle of your strength at twenty-one, and then it depended on your health, and any 'exercising' you did of your powers.

Like all muscles, magic needed to be used to be easy to access. The sisters' powers only advanced as quick as they did because they were attacked so often, it hurried their increases.

But in Sophie's time, things were different. Witches didn't have the luxury of allowing their powers time to grow. Not when the world was a scene from survival of the fittest, and everyone had someone they needed to defend. Sophie, as the leader of the resistance against Wyatt, had needed to reach magical maturity even quicker than the rest.

Tattoos, rituals, potions. Even just pure, repeated use of her powers. Sophie had done everything she could short of evil methods to try and increase her strength. It had worked, but there were many side-effects to her actions. For example, if she didn't use them, they started to build up until they exploded out of her, taking everything around her with them in the process. Another problem was her exhaustion.

More than once, Sophie had collapsed unconscious for days straight. If she didn't collapse, but still overextended herself, she usually ended up suffering from nosebleeds, debilitating migraines and awful dizziness.

And all of it meant nothing, because Wyatt had Power Negation to dismiss any attack she sent at him. Her jaw clenched in frustration, and her green eyes flicked down to the baby curled up against her chest.

"It would be so easy," she whispered to him. Wyatt blinked up at her innocently, oblivious to the fact that they would one day be bitter enemies, trying with all their might to either kill or turn the other.

"It really would," she insisted to him. "All I'd have to do is snap your neck. The world would be grateful for it, believe me."

She wouldn't though, of course. If Sophie had the strength to kill an infant, she would have poisoned Wyatt's bottle the day she returned to the past. Instead, she'd spent months keeping up an elaborate charade, dealing with the petty, young versions of her mother and aunts. Not to mention Leo. No, if Sophie could've killed Wyatt as a child, she would have done so already.

"C'mon," she sighed, pushing herself to her feet. "Let's get you back to Mommy, huh, kid?"

Wyatt's face lit up at the word 'Mommy', and he clapped his hands in delight. No surprise there, in Sophie's time, the only thing she and her brother agreed on was their mutual adoration of Piper Halliwell. Heck, Piper's birthday was a universal holiday. Anyone who dared to cause trouble on August 7th faced the wrath of  _both_  Halliwell siblings.

Sophie let out another sigh, and orbed away, focusing on her brother's nursery.

* * *

_**The Manor** _

Piper had a dull expression in her eyes as she surveyed the nursery. The empty nursery, of course, because Sophie had taken Wyatt with her when she fled the Manor.

"Maybe we  _should_ bind his powers," she said suddenly. "I mean, maybe it's too much responsibility for one person, especially a child. We've always had each other and Leo to keep us in line, but Wyatt won't have that support."

"He'll have Sophie though," Paige pointed out carefully. Paige, despite her own mess of emotions, had put it aside to help Piper. Phoebe was hovering around Leo downstairs.

Piper rubbed her forehead tiredly. "It's too much for her to deal with alone," she insisted. "Wyatt-"

"Isn't going to get kidnapped or lose his beloved mother this time around," Paige cut her off, grasping her elder sister's hands. "We're gonna survive, and raise our kids, and keep 'em on the straight and narrow."

Piper's reply was cut off by the tinkling of orbs, and Sophie materialized with Wyatt in her arms. Piper was immediately alarmed as she saw her daughter was covered in evidence of a severe demon hunt, with a smell of smoke hanging around her. Wyatt, despite his sling being dirty, was pristine clean.

"Oh my god, Sophie did you go demon hunting?" Piper heard a hint of hysteria in her own voice as she took her children in. Sophie's eyes flashed defiantly before her expression went icy-neutral.

"Wyatt's fine," she coolly assured them, unhooking her infant brother and handing him off to Paige. "I was just planning on looking at the Book to figure out my next target, that's all."

Paige bit her lip. A glance at Piper found the eldest Charmed Sister was frozen in place, and it was obvious Sophie wanted to pretend nothing had changed. But that wasn't a viable option, because everything had changed now. Paige swallowed and squared her shoulders, turning to face her adult niece sternly.

"Sophie, we've got to talk about this," she insisted softly. Sophie stiffened even further, and her jaw clenched slightly.

"There's nothing to talk about," she replied stonily, eyes hard as rock. "I'm the same person that I was yesterday. The fact that you lot went riffling through my memories like a video album, doesn't change things. At all."

"Everything's changed!" Paige protested. "We understand now! We understand why-"

"You don't understand  _anything_!" Sophie burst out, anger flickering in her olive-eyes. "You saw a few glimpses, not nearly enough to get why-" she cut herself off with a sharp shake of her head. "Never mind," she said bitterly. "I've got stuff to do."

"Wait," Piper objected weakly, raising a hand to try and stop her daughter from leaving. She was too late, and Sophie disappeared in swirl of blue orbs. Piper's tears started all over again, though she could have sworn she was empty of them all.

"Oh, Piper," Paige sighed. She put Wyatt in his crib and went over to her elder sister, pulling her into a hug.

"What have I done to her?" Piper groaned. "What have I done to my baby girl?"

Paige bit her lip and continued to rub the other woman's back comfortingly. Not that there was any way to ease Piper's grief in this situation.

* * *

Leo stared unseeingly out of the conservatory windows, his thoughts distant. Unsurprisingly, they all centred around his children.

"Leo?" Phoebe placed a hand on her ex-brother-in-law's shoulder. She was pissed at his future actions, but the whole thing was too much of a mess for her to  _stay_  irritated. Especially since Piper was clearly channelling her pain at current events through anger at her ex-husband's other self's actions.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" She asked him gently. He glanced briefly at her before returning his gaze to the garden.

"I want to say that I could never become that man," he finally began, uncrossing his arms. "But I've already started, haven't I? I've been blaming Sophie and Destiny for me leaving to become an Elder, but I'm the one who made the decision to go, not them. It was too hard to keep juggling everything, and I never even considered staying after my elevation.

And then, Sophie. She hates me, and rightfully so. Never mind everything I did in her timeline, there's no excuse for how I've treated her in  _this_ time. I  _attacked_ her. I threatened her, stalked her, and pushed her through a time portal, and I wouldn't have tried to help her if she was the one who slipped when we were in dinosaur times. I even told her so. God, Phoebe, how can I ever even start making up for everything I've done, now and in her future?"

Phoebe swallowed before deciding to lay her own burdens on his shoulders too. They were family, and once they'd laid out all of their problems they could work on fixing things.

"I couldn't tell you, Leo," she admitted with a sigh. "I keep thinking about Rose, and Cole. Why would I take him back after everything? But, at the same time, it seems like it worked. Three daughters!" She revelled for a moment. All Phoebe wanted was to be a mother and, although she had never admitted it to her sisters, she still loved Cole, fiercely. She still wished their life had worked out. Then her face fell again.

"But, all of them except Rose are dead. And Sophie ends up raising my daughter as a teenager. God, how could we let that happen?"

"How could I, you mean," Leo corrected her exhaustedly. "You and Paige and, Piper are all dead but as far as we know I just buried my head in the sand and ignored everything. I don't know Phoebe. I just don't know."

She chewed on her lip, trying to find words to comfort to the distraught man. "We should get Piper and Paige," she sighed finally. "We need to figure out a plan to protect Wyatt better, and to find out who's after him. And what to do to make everything up to Sophie, of course."

Leo nodded. For once, he decided to ignore the jingling that had begun in his ear. That would be his first step towards changing the future he decided. No longer would he put the Elders first. From now on, it would be his family first, and his duties second.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Halliwells call in reinforcements and have a reunion they didn't expect.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. Few differences in the timeline by the way. Phoebe never moved to Hong Kong to be with Jason because Mata Hari happened when Sword in the City should have, so they broke up early. They haven't found out about Excalibur yet, and Sophie didn't send Gith after the sisters, he went after them himself. Nor has Witch-Stocked happened, because I don't think it was anything other than a filler episode.**

**Piper's birthday is Aug 7** **th** **according to Charmed Wiki, which doesn't work out timeline wise for S6. So Prince Charmed wasn't set on her birthday, but her sisters did conjure Mr. Right to keep her from giving up on love.**

**Struggled a bit with this chapter cause I couldn't quite figure out how I wanted it go, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

**Chapter Seven**

Piper paced the attic briskly, Wyatt tucked to her chest. Holding him in her arms, she couldn't seem to reconcile this sweet little baby with the monster who'd tried to boil his little sister's blood. She shuddered, pulling him closer.

_'How?'_ She wondered despairingly, not realizing she'd spoken aloud.  _'How did everything go so wrong?'_

"I dunno honey," Phoebe murmured. "But that's why Sophie came back. To keep it all from going wrong."

"She shouldn't have had to," Piper whispered. "It should be us responsible for fixing this. My daughter shouldn't have had to be in charge of saving the world. It's way too much for a child to deal with."

They were going in circles, but Piper couldn't keep herself from going back to that fact. Her babies were paying because Piper had been too obsessed with having a normal life to protect them. She was certain that was the reason Wyatt had been taken.

_"If you guys don't start taking your Wiccan duties seriously, you're gonna regret it!"_ Sophie's warning from the Gith incident echoed around her mind. Why hadn't Prue's death made them realize that they weren't invincible? Piper cursed herself for her arrogance and stupidity. The image of San Francisco, reduced to ruins by her son, played on the backs of her eyelids.

"Sophie's not really a child though," Paige pointed out cautiously. "She's what, twenty-two, twenty-three?"

The others exchanged uncertain looks, and Piper's lip trembled.

"Oh god," she said, past devastation by now. "She's been here for months and we don't even know what age she is. The only reason we know she was born in October is because of that damn spell!"

Wyatt started to cry at Piper's raised voice and Leo reached out to take him. She turned away, comforting the baby herself.

"I can take care of my own children thanks," she hissed at him.

"You're being unfair Piper," he replied lowly, strain clear on his face. "I'm struggling too."

"What's unfair is that you chose the Elders over our family, and our daughter is the one who suffered because of it," Piper snapped.

"Enough!" Paige cut in. "Both of you! This isn't helping, and you're upsetting Wyatt. We all need to calm down and work on a plan to save Wyatt, and fix our relationship with Sophie. So stop taking your anger out on each other, and focus on your kids! Okay?"

Her chest heaved as she finished her speech, but it definitely seemed to help. Piper straightened, looking determined instead of broken, which was far more like the Piper they knew than the tearful mess she'd been since they'd learned the truth. Leo also seemed to calm a bit, though the strain was still obvious in both of them.

"I think we should get some advice," Phoebe suggested. "Grams would know what to do about Wyatt and Sophie."

"Good idea," Piper agreed immediately. "Grams knows more about magic than anyone else in the family, and she always knows what to do."

"Okey-dokey then," Paige clapped her hands together. "Candles! Circle! What?" She shrugged at Leo's mildly chiding look. "We're on a deadline here, remember? Mid-October is when Ghost Piper said Wyatt was kidnapped. We're losing time here people!"

Piper and Leo both went pale.

"I didn't even think of that," Piper breathed in horror. She tightened her grip on Wyatt. "And didn't I say I was on bedrest for my pregnancy with Sophie? And when do we need to conceive her? I'm letting my baby be erased from existence!"

"Of course not," Leo agreed. "Wyatt's birthday, remember? You pretty much said so in the memory of when Sophie was a baby."

"Okay, let's put that to the side for a mo while we call Grams," Phoebe cut in.

"Oh, you know I suddenly feel really bad about talking about sex around Sophie," Paige announced. "No wonder she's always so uncomfortable. Who'd want to know about their mother and aunts having sex? We've probably completely traumatized her."

"Paige!" Piper shrieked. Her eyes narrowed. "No one is ever mentioning our  _romantic_ ," she stubbornly emphasized the word. "Lives around my kid again. Got me?"

"Yes ma'am!" Paige gave a mocking salute. She hid her grin by starting to flip through the Book.

_'Mission accomplished'_ she thought smugly. Piper was no longer wallowing in her guilt and misery, and was returning to the strong, viciously protective woman that Paige knew and loved. At least for the moment anyway.

"Hear my words, hear my cry, spirit from the other side," Paige chanted after she'd finished double-checking the familiar words of the seancé spell. "Come to me, I summon thee, cross now the great divide."

To their surprise, Grams wasn't the only one who appeared in a swirl of soft yellow lights.

"Oh my god," Phoebe clasped a hand over her mouth, tears welling in her eyes as she stared at the woman in the centre of the three witches. Penny and Patty had gentle looks on their faces as they stepped to the side to let the sisters take Prue in properly.

Prue looked exactly like she did the day she died. Her dark hair reached a little past her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkled with lively determination and love as she smiled at her younger sisters.

She was dressed in a loose white top and skirt, similar to their mother and grams. Paige vaguely wondered in the back of her mind if Heaven had some sort of dress code or something, because that really wasn't the style Prue had in life from the pictures.

"Prue?" Piper's voice trembled with hope and longing as she drank in the sight desperately.

"It's me," Prue promised. She spread her arms and Piper and Phoebe let out choked cries. Piper shoved Wyatt into Leo's arms, before dashing to her older sister, where she and Phoebe clutched at her fiercely, sobbing the whole time.

Paige hovered uncertainly in the background, biting her lip.

"Hello sweetheart," Patty came up to her youngest child, wrapping her arms around her. "How are you, my love?"

"Paige darling," Grams greeted her warmly, following Patty. Paige sighed slightly in relief, accepting the hug. She felt some of her own strain release. Surely, now that Penny, Patty and Prue were all there to help, they'd be able to figure out a way to fix the mess the Charmed Ones were in?

"Paige come on," Phoebe called eagerly, not letting go of Prue. "Come meet Prue!"

Paige's nervousness shot right back up, and she gave an anxious look at her mother as she stepped forward hesitantly. Patty smiled encouragingly at her, nodding in Prue's direction. Piper and Phoebe finally stepped away from Prue, giving Paige supportive smiles.

"Prue, this our baby sister Paige," Phoebe introduced, wrapping an arm around Paige's shoulders and squeezing her lightly. "Paige, this is our eldest sister Prue."

Prue, like she always had when she was alive, took the initiative. She strode forward and pulled Paige into a firm embrace, kissing her cheek.

"I," she announced. "Am so glad to finally meet you Paige. I just wish it happened sooner."

"Me too," Paige choked out. Hesitantly, she brought her arms up around her sister. Piper and Phoebe joined in, and all four of the Charmed Ones hugged each other for the first in history.

* * *

"Well, my darlings," Grams sighed later on that day, when they'd finally explained the whole painful situation. "I'm honestly not sure what to say. It's not a good situation dears."

"Ya think?" Piper retorted. "My daughter hates me, and my son is going to turn," she faltered, unable to finish. To the Halliwells, turning evil was worse than death.

"Piper," Patty chided her lightly. "Nothing you've said has led me to believe that Sophie hates you. Is she angry with you? Certainly, and I'm sure it's for more reasons that you know of. But she doesn't hate you."

"How do you know that?" Piper argued. "We've treated her awfully."

"Yes, you have," Patty agreed quietly. "And frankly, I'm very disappointed in all three of you for being so cruel. Especially as you all know the rules of time travel. You knew better than to be so cruel when she was simply obeying the laws of magic." Her daughters flinched, glancing at the floor as Patty continued.

"But she still loves you Piper. If she didn't, she wouldn't be so upset."

"But how do we fix it?" Piper begged. "And do we save Wyatt? I can't lose either of them Mom, I just can't. They're my  _children_."

"And you won't," Prue insisted firmly. "They're both gonna grow up to be strong, powerful kids, utterly spoilt by their parents and aunts. I promise honey."

Piper bit her lip, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "We have no idea what turn him though," she pointed out. "And from the sounds of it, it turns him slowly. Every time we've come across spells or whatever that turn somebody evil, it's been instantly obvious that something's wrong. But it seems like we didn't notice in Sophie's timeline. What if he's not turned by a demon, what if it's just that I failed to raise him properly?"

"But there's Sophie to consider," Patty pointed out gently, grasping Piper's hand. "if your parenting was the problem, she wouldn't be the Good young woman you say she is. And Phoebe's daughter Rose stayed Good as well. Every parent makes mistakes, but all of us have complete confidence that you set the right example for your children."

"I think we need to call Sophie," Grams interjected. "And get some more information on Wyatt's turning from her."

"She won't say anything about the future," Phoebe warned. "She's very tight lipped about it."

"I somehow suspect that it depends on the subject," Grams answered dryly. "I won't be asking how many great-grandchildren I'm going to have, but how Wyatt turned is important. Worst case scenario, if we can't prevent his kidnapping, we can still reverse the damage if we know how he was turned."

"I agree Mother," Patty murmured, still stroking Piper's arm. "You see sweetheart? We'll keep Wyatt and Sophie safe."

Piper nodded silently, looking exhausted. It was like her life had suddenly gone into super speed, and she was struggling desperately to keep up with everything. She hadn't felt this overwhelmed and emotionally spent since Prue's funeral had resulted in Paige's existence being revealed to them.

"One slight problem with the whole 'talking to Sophie' thing," Paige drawled. The ghosts glanced at her with raised eyebrows as she explained. "Sophie isn't answering our calls right now."

Grams huffed at that. "Well she'll damn well answer me, or she'll regret it!" Piper cast her grandmother a warning look at the threat as Penny stood and started yelling at the ceiling.

"Sophie Halliwell! Get here right now young lady! Warren women do not sulk, do you understand me? Come here right-"

"I was not  _sulking_ , I was demon hunting!" Sophie appeared in a swirl of blue orbs, utterly indignant at Penny's accusation. "What do you want anyway?"

Penny narrowed her eyes threateningly at the young woman. To her satisfaction, Sophie didn't cower, lifting her chin up defiantly instead. _'Oh yes,'_ Penny thought approvingly.  _'She has the right spirit to be a Warren matriarch.'_

Still. "Don't take that tone with me young lady," she warned. "We need to discuss Wyatt's turning. What were the signs, how suddenly, when did he go completely off the rails, that sort of thing."

Sophie stared hardly at her for a moment before nodding curtly. "Fine. What do you want to know then?"

"Everything you know about Wyatt's turn to evil," Penny answered promptly, sitting down in an armchair dragged from the sitting room to the conservatory by Paige. Piper didn't dare look away from her daughter, instead she desperately drank in every little detail, right down to the faint, almost invisible scar on Sophie's temple.

Sophie looked reluctant but she gave a curt nod.

"Wait, you're seriously going to talk?" Paige blurted out before Sophie could speak. The youngest Halliwell woman rolled her eyes irritably.

"I'm not going to tell you anything about your kids or husbands, 'cause that could damage your future relationships with them if you expect them to be a certain way," she explained with a huff. "But I plan on changing Wyatt's allegiance, so explaining what happened to him in my timeline won't cause any harm. I didn't say anything before because I didn't want to tell you that he turned evil."

"Makes sense I guess," Paige muttered. She shifted, her guilt rising up again now that she was seeing Sophie in person and didn't have to be strong for Piper. Prue had taken over that particular job, stroking her arm as Piper looked longingly at her youngest child.

"Go on then," Prue prompted her niece. Sophie studied her with an assessing look for a moment, and Prue thought she saw a bit of wistfulness in her eyes. But that might have been wishful thinking. Who knew what relationship any of them had with Sophie in the future, save for the fact that it was definitely a bad one when it came to Leo.

Sophie nodded again, opening her mouth and beginning to explain Wyatt's years-long descent into evil.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie explains Wyatt's fall to darkness.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. Also, a review pointed out a mistake I made in my story. Although they don't know about Excalibur, I had it featured in one of the flashbacks. I've fixed it now. Thanks to that reviewer. And this chapter is very Sophie and Grams centred, but the others will resurge in the next! Pinky promise.**

**Chapter Eight**

Sophie kept her face stony and emotionless as she faced down her family. Inside however, she was fighting the urge to burst into tears and throw herself into Grams' arms. As the firstborn girl of her generation, Sophie had always been Grams' favourite great-grandchild. She had many fond memories of sitting beside her summoned great-grandmother, being taught how to be a Matriarch of the Warren line.

Of course, Wyatt had always resented that Sophie had been chosen to be their mother's successor. It hadn't mattered to him that he was already the subject of two prophecies and Melinda Warren herself had insisted that it had to be a girl, and he had two destinies already. He only cared that Sophie would have more control over the family magic and be the guardian of the Book. He had taken the Book just to spite, even dismantling the protection spells so he could touch it.

She pushed the memories away, cursing how much her emotional controls were affected by being in 2004. She had never struggled so much in  _her_  time. She discreetly rubbed her charm bracelet. The agate and amethyst charms warmed slightly, trying to balance her emotions. It worked a bit at least. She didn't feel like she was going to start crying anymore, even if she still wanted her elders to fix everything for her.

"Wyatt was always different from everyone else when we were growing up," she began, continuing to rub her bracelet. The rose quartz warmed too. Unsurprising as this whole mess was very dramatic.

"Most of us 'Charmed Children' were on the quiet side. Comes with the territory of having famous mothers and being constantly compared to Wyatt."

Had that sounded bitter? She was self-aware enough to know she resented that she was the 'Fateless Halliwell'. At least until she'd turned from being the 'Fateless Halliwell' to being 'Good's Last Hope'. Then her reasons for hating Wyatt's powers were a lot less petty. She ignored the dismay that she could see on her mother and aunts' faces. She already knew they felt bad about how often their daughters and Junior had suffered because of Wyatt's many destinies. None of the others had any prophecies made about them.

"But Wyatt was arrogant, and loud and he liked being the centre of attention."

"That doesn't mean he was evil from childhood though," Leo interrupted. "Lots of kids are like that. It doesn't make him evil."

"When a kid with a power obsession pushes his seven-year-old cousin down the stairs on her birthday so she couldn't have a party, it tends to send up red flags," Sophie replied icily.

"What?" Piper gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. "What happened?"

Sophie huffed and crossed her arms. The bracelet was not remotely strong enough to ease her stress. Sophie suspected that she was going to have to perform a ritual to centre herself at this rate. Yet another delay in her mission.

"He wanted to be the centre of attention," she gritted out in blatant frustration. "And if someone took the attention away from him, he would lash out." Because she wasn't a nice person, and she was angry at their actions, she added viciously. "I think half my injuries in childhood were because of him, a quarter were because of demons and self-defence lessons, and the rest was from playing rough."

Piper flinched and Sophie felt a mixture of smugness and guilt at the sight. Grams gave her a reprimanding look and she sighed but continued with her explanation.

"All my life, I was told that it wasn't Wyatt's fault he was cruel," she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and kept her gaze fixed on Grams'.

"Mom and the aunts would tell me that he was kidnapped as a baby and it  _damaged_  him. We had to be  _gentle_  with him because if we were unfair to him, he could turn evil."

She neglected to mention that it was only Leo out of the adults in her family that thought Wyatt should be given special treatment for any reason. Piper and her sisters and brothers-in-law had all believed that he should be treated normally to avoid worsening his arrogant sense of entitlement. Not that it worked when he was so often at Magic School, being doted on and favoured by the teachers and Leo.

A hint of smugness mixed in with her other emotions at the reproving look Nana shot her daughters.

"You shouldn't favour any child for any reason," she admonished them softly. Phoebe wilted, Paige glanced away guiltily and Piper simply slumped lower in her seat, cradling Wyatt loosely.

"As he grew up, he grew, darker, for lack of a better word," Sophie went on. "He wanted to be in charge, and he hated it when he was told that he was only allowed to use his powers for protecting people, and not personal gain. Not that the rules stopped him. Usually Piper could keep him reasonably under control though. She was the only one who could."

"But then we died," Paige interrupted hesitantly. Sophie nodded jaw tense.

"And then you died," she agreed. She paused for a moment, suppressing the flashbacks. Not that she actually remembered the majority of the Event. Only Piper shoving her roughly under a table. _"There's too many of them Peanut. I need you to stay here so I can concentrate without worrying about you. Stay here and be quiet. I promise everything'll be fine."_ Liar _._

The only other thing she remembered was clutching her mother's broken body and screaming desperately for Paige, Wyatt, Leo, any Whitelighter or Elder to come and help. But by then Paige was already dead, her ten-year-old son with her. And although he'd never admitted it, had always denied it in fact, Sophie had her suspicions about  _who_  exactly had orchestrated the attack.

She jolted as Prue leaned over and grasped her hand.

"Take your time," Aunt Prue murmured.

"I'm fine," Sophie insisted stubbornly. She ignored the faint buzz in the back of her head that signalled an impending collapse of her mental shields from emotional distress. If that happened, her Enhanced Senses alone would knock her out, never mind her telepathy, empathy and clairaudience. She really needed to do that ritual.

"A few months after you died, it was New Years' Eve." She inhaled, releasing the breath heavily as she remembered the bloody events that followed the stroke of midnight. "Just after the countdown finished, Wyatt attacked. It was sudden, and multi-pronged. No one was prepared, and Good was reduced to a few holdouts within the year. That's it."

"I see," Grams hummed. She frowned deeply, staring off into the distance as she thought. "Did the girls know who took Wyatt? Did  _anyone_?"

Sophie shook her head again, re-crossing her arms. "No," she answered curtly. "Paige found him in the Underworld after a few weeks of searching. They assumed he managed to vanquish his kidnapper and was just orbing around looking for help after that."

"He was gone a few  _weeks_?" Piper shrieked, snapping out of her dull grief in order to focus on the news she'd just heard. She pulled Wyatt closer a look of fierce protectiveness crossing her face. "Not this time," she vowed lowly. "Over my dead body." Sophie hid a flinch at that.

Evidentially not well enough though. Prue and Grams shot her sharp looks, while the others were all agreeing with Piper that they wouldn't let Wyatt be taken.

"How was he taken?" Grams asked, regaining control of the conversation. "Do you know?"

"Piper was on bedrest for her pregnancy," Sophie explained. "She insisted on having a doctor for her second pregnancy after the problems with her first. Something invisible attacked her from behind while she was alone with Wyatt and when she woke up he was gone."

"Was being attacked why you were premature?" Piper asked anxiously. Sophie noticed she had a hand resting protectively on her stomach and vaguely wondered if she realized that she wasn't pregnant yet.

"That combined with the stress of Wyatt going missing," Sophie shrugged in reply.

"But what about the forcefield?" Paige frowned. Sophie blinked in confusion for a moment before it clicked.

"Well if you're asking about why Wyatt's forcefield didn't protect him from the demon," she answered tiredly. "Then there are ways around it. It only works if he doesn't trust the person with him, and it depends on how long he can last. As a baby, he can only keep it up for a certain amount of time.

If you're asking about Wyatt having his powers from the womb, the abilities I manifested before birth were orbing and apportation. Mom didn't see the danger, so I couldn't orb us away."

The others nodded in understanding at that, while Sophie shifted. Grams had a thoughtful look on her face.

"You said Wyatt was gone for a few weeks?" She quizzed her. Sophie nodded, feeling vaguely like a bobblehead.

"Yeah. I think it was between two and three weeks, but I'm not sure."

"I see. And it was believed that he was in the Underworld for the whole time?"

"Yes."

"And he was given special treatment because of his kidnapping and powers?"

"Yeees," Sophie dragged out. She cocked her head, genuinely hopeful that Grams had figured something out she hadn't realized. It certainly seemed like it.

"I see," Grams murmured. "Is there anything else that you can think of related to Wyatt's turning? Anything at all?"

"Well," Sophie considered. "He claims that there's no such thing as good and evil."

"What?" Phoebe frowned. "Where did he get that idea?"

"Goddess knows," Sophie shrugged. "I think he just wants to justify himself to the family. He says that there's no such thing as good and evil, only power."

_"That's always been your problem, Sophia. Stuck in the old good versus evil morass. I'm so past that. It's all about power, it's as simple as that."_

_"And whoever has the most power wins, is that it?"_

_"That's it."_

She quickly shoved away the memory before she lost herself to the image of her fiancé, the one person who thought her life was worth more than everyone else on earth, dying at the hands of her elder brother. She really  _would_  cry if she had to relive that. Niko's death had devastated her more than her family would ever realize. He'd been her anchor for years, and she wasn't quite sure what to do without him waiting for her and giving her strength to keep struggling on.

"That's weird," Paige said slowly. "I mean, every time we've been turned evil, we've acknowledged that we're evil. Maybe the spell he was put under was designed to keep him from saying he was evil, so that we wouldn't be as suspicious?"

"No," Grams said quietly. "I don't think that's it. Phoebe married a demon didn't she?" Her voice was pained as she spoke. Sophie shrugged.

"He was born a half-demon," she admitted. "But when he came back the last time, he was just a witch. I dunno how it happened."

A brief look of hope flashed over Phoebe's face before she covered it, returning her attention to the matter at hand.

"His forcefield wouldn't come up around someone that he trusted," Grams added. Her eyes narrowed. "So if-. Yes, I think I understand what happened now."

"What?" Piper demanded sharply, leaning forward. "Grams, tell me! This is my child on the line! Start talking!"

"I think that there's a traitor among your magical allies," Grams said steadily. "And that they're the one who kidnapped Wyatt. That, combined with having a former demon as family, and being favoured because he had more power than his sister and cousins, implanted the belief that evil and good don't exist, only power. And it just festered and grew in him until he was an adult, at which point he was fully turned by the grief of losing his mother."

"But Wyatt's the one who-" Sophie started to say before cutting herself off sharply. The others gave her looks of shock and disbelief. Piper went pale, and Leo looked like he was in denial.

 _'Typical'_ Sophie sneered mentally.  _'He can never believe that Wyatt is anything except perfect.'_  It had taken the destruction of Australia for the Leo of her timeline to admit that Wyatt  _might_  be a bit 'off'. Idiot.

"Wyatt kills Piper?" Prue asked shakily, a hint of protectiveness flaring in her expression as she glanced at her sister and nephew. Sophie scowled at the floor.

"He never admitted it," she huffed. "But we knew before then that a force was uniting the Underworld again. And like I said. It was only a few months later that he revealed himself as the Source. He disappeared before the funerals."

Piper looked devastated again, though she raised her chin defiantly. It emphasized the similarities in the mother-daughter pair to the rest of the family. Phoebe, Paige and Leo couldn't believe they hadn't put the pieces together until it was literally screamed aloud. It was so  _obvious_.

"But I guess it's possible someone good took him," she conceded, thinking back to her recent tarot readings, and the nagging feeling she had of missing something. "It would fit with what my tarot cards are telling me lately anyway."

"So," Prue clapped her hands decisively. "Find the traitor, save the world. Let's get to it then."

* * *

 

**Gemstones mentioned here:**

**Agate:** Connected to the element of Earth, agate is related to the brow chakra and matters of the mind. Use it in workings related to energy, depression, and mental health. A popular use for agate in magic is to use in rituals relating to discovery and truth, memories and healing, and overcoming feelings of loneliness or sadness.

 **Amethyst:**  Associated with water, it is also connected to the water signs of Pisces and Aquarius. Use amethyst in healing rituals related to the crown chakra, such as treating depression or anxiety, mood disorders, and stress relief. On a magical level, amethyst comes in handy for sharpening the mind and enhancing our intuitive powers. It can also help with cleansing and consecration of sacred space.

 **Rose Quartz:**  Connected to the heart chakra, rose quartz is often associated with love and relationships. Use it in workings connected to love or even friendship, both giving and receiving love, as well as relief of emotional issues and drama.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie's tries to balance her emotions before once again having to deal with her family.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. Sorry this update took longer than I usually do, I had to buy a new laptop after about three weeks of trying to get my old one fixed. The ritual Sophie uses in this chapter is a real Wiccan cleansing ritual. And the powers mentioned are (save for Aura Sight) official Charmed powers, in the List of Powers from the Charmed Wiki. Enjoy/R &R! Also, I realized that I made a mistake and didn't upload chapter 5, instead I put chapter 6 in its' place. Fixed now.**

**Chapter Nine**

When her family headed for the attic, Sophie let herself fall to the back of the group before orbing away once Nana had turned the corner just ahead of her.

She rematerialized in an old warehouse that she'd warded and been using for rituals, interrogations and other sensitive activities since arriving in the past. Her head pounded irregularly as she made her way to the cupboard where she kept her ritual things and fumbled it open, black spots dancing in her vision.

She dragged out the things she needed, nearly shaking from her mental strain. Her shields had cracked and she could feel the thoughts of hundreds of people in the surrounding area buzzing at the back of her mind. She grimaced and tried to block out the  _ican'twaitformychecktonightisheevergoingtoproposeihatethisdamnjobmyfeetaresosoreisshecheatingonme?_ that was poundingat the back of her head from her telepathy. The telepathy always started first when her shields broke. Sophie had never understood why.

She drew a wide circle in white chalk before setting each of her ingredients in their spot and lighting the sage incense that represented air and the candle representing fire. Then she crawled into the middle and closed her eyes. She went through the motions of meditation with the ease of long practice.

Her empathy and telepathy had both manifested within weeks of each other, and Aunt Phoebe had taken her on holiday to a secluded cabin and spent several weeks working on meditation with her to control them because of it. But as she'd gotten older, and suffered more and more trauma, reaching the right headspace had become harder and harder.

Eventually, she was as close as she could get to relaxed, and she re-opened her eyes.

"With air I cleanse myself," she breathed, sticking her hands over the burning incense and letting the smoke twirl around her fingers and wrists for several moments before continuing.

"With fire I cleanse myself." She held her palms over the candle, a shadow of a smile playing at sides of her lips from the tickling sensation she got from the flame. She closed her eyes again, imagining her grief and anger being burned away by the small flame.

Then she picked up the sea salt and began to rub it over her hands: "With earth I cleanse myself." Then she finished the first part of the ritual by rinsing her hands in the bowl of water, saying "With water I cleanse myself," as she did so.

Then it was time for the second section of the cleansing ritual. She stood and began to chant in a firm but calm voice. "Any energy that no longer serves me, please leave now. Thank you for your presence. Now I am sending you home." She repeated it so many times that she lost count, before giving up on completely cleansing herself and continuing to the third part of the ritual.

She visualised the top of her head opening up, pulling down light to fill every gap in her damaged aura as she repeated the chant: "I ask that my energy body is filled with pure healing light." After she felt centred enough to breathe properly, she closed the circle, thanking the goddess and elements with a sigh.

It had worked well enough, she supposed. At least her shields were repaired, and she was once again centred. But she still felt weighed down with worry, hurt and the strain of knowing if she failed in her mission, the whole world would collapse.

Not even a million rituals for cleansing her pain would get rid of that.

* * *

Piper nearly panicked when she entered the attic, turned, and realized that Sophie was gone.

"Where's Sophie?"

"She's fine I'm sure," Penny retorted. "Don't be panicking, she's a Halliwell woman. We can handle ourselves."

"She's my daughter!" Piper snapped back. "And she's obsessed with demon hunting, on her own I might add! Of course I'm going to worry when she suddenly decides to disappear without a word!"

"Piper, honey," Patty sighed. "I know you're used to being the mother of a baby instead of an adult woman, but Sophie is an adult. She's been through a lot, and it's made her into a strong young woman. That being said, I expect that explaining everything was very difficult for her. She probably needed a little break."

"Well she should have told us," Leo argued. "She-"

"Has been responsible for herself and for multiple other people within a warzone for years," Phoebe pointed out reluctantly. "You guys can't just step into the role of authority figures for her. For years the buck stopped with her. If you two try and control her actions, she'll lash out."

"So what, I'm supposed to ignore the fact that she's my child and just let her put herself in danger?" Piper was furious at the implication, and Phoebe hastily shook her head.

"No! Of course not, but-" she faltered, casting a desperate look at Grams for help. Thankfully, the late Matriarch stepped in swiftly, taking mercy on her middle granddaughter.

"Piper, no one is saying that you should act like Sophie isn't your child," Penny murmured, moving closer to her eldest grandchild. "But Sophie is in a delicate state of mind. Can you imagine it? Spending your teenage years being the most wanted person in the world, leading a war against your flesh and blood. And then losing your family one by one, only to see those you loved alive again? You can't treat Sophie like you would Wyatt, not just because of their ages, but because of her trauma.

No one else in the family has suffered the same amount of grief as Sophie, and hopefully never will. But it also means that we can't really understand her thought process either. I raised you girls to believe that family comes first, no matter what. But Sophie can't have that belief because her family has been her greatest enemy for years."

"So how do I help her?" Piper asked helplessly, misery radiating from her. Her usually defiantly erect shoulders were hunched in despair, and the faint lines in her face seemed to have deepened fiercely ever since they had cast the spell to see Sophie's memories. "I just want my children safe," she added brokenly. "Why is that so hard?"

Penny heaved a sigh. "I wish you didn't have to feel this pain, darling," she told her, stroking Piper's cheek with her thumb.

They seemed to have forgotten the others were in the room. Patty had a longing look on her face, wishing she could comfort her child, but knowing that Penny was who Piper needed right now.

"It's the price our family has to pay," Penny acknowledged. "But-"

"I didn't ask for this!" Piper cried throwing her left arm out wide while supporting a silent and wide-eyed Wyatt on her hip with her right. "I didn't ask for magic powers, or demons to attack, or to be a Charmed One! I didn't ask for any of it!"

"But without it you wouldn't have your children, or Paige," Penny reminded her, cutting off Piper's angry rant. "Would that be better? If you didn't have Wyatt or Sophie or Paige? If you couldn't summon one of us whenever you need to talk or get advice? Would it really be better to let innocents die so you can have peace?"

"No," Piper croaked out. "No of course not. But why us? Why my children? We don't deserve this! Sophie-" she choked off, and closed her eyes to try and fight the tears threatening.

"I know, darling," Penny sighed, pulling her close. "I know."

About a forty-five minutes later, the Halliwells had just re-grouped and composed themselves when Sophie sauntered through the door, a sullen expression on her face and her hands shoved into the pockets of her fake leather jacket.

Piper wanted to rush over and both scold and dote on her, but the earlier conversation kept her silent. She hugged her son tighter instead, burying her nose in his soft blonde curls. At least she could care for one of her children.

"Well then," Penny cast a disapproving frown at her great-granddaughter who raised her chin stubbornly. "Now that we're all here we can get down to work figuring out a plan to discover who is after Wyatt. How have you been choosing your targets up until now?"

Sophie glared down at the floor like an upset teenager before answering. "I started by eliminating as many threats from this time that I remembered as I could by myself," she explained curtly. "Then I sent the sisters after the highest-ranking demons in Wyatt's army, starting with those from his early days and continuing. I also regularly disguise myself and go undercover to look for information on threats to the Halliwells, Wyatt in particular. I haven't found anyone yet."

"I understand your theory on what happened to Wyatt," Leo said after Sophie had fallen silent. "But I have to say that I'm sceptical. I don't think any of those we trust around Wyatt would ever do something like that."

Sophie scoffed. "Of course they would," she sneered. "The only person guaranteed not to betray you is yourself."

"That's a hard way to live," Paige commented softly. She met Sophie's eyes, noticing for the first time how filled they were with turmoil and exhaustion as she spoke. "Very lonely."

"But expecting betrayal means you'll be ready for it," Sophie replied flatly. "And then it won't hurt as much."

She stubbornly didn't acknowledge the lie that she had just said. Most people she knew had sold her and/or Rose out in order to save themselves from Wyatt's wrath. Just because she'd begun to expect it, didn't mean that it didn't hurt like hell every time she went through the routine.

"Well," Penny cleared her throat, while Piper and Leo exchanged despondent looks.

"You had a decent strategy, but I'm convinced that you were investigating the wrong side," Penny continuing. "I suspect that we're dealing with someone who is obsessed with keeping the Balance. They may believe that Wyatt's power skewed it somehow.

We need to decide who are the most logical suspects. Then we need to figure out how to catch them out."

"I've been trying to use my powers to try and see who is after him, but I've had no luck," Sophie suddenly turned from sulky-teenager to professional soldier. "But I was searching the Underworld, so it's possible that if I try to search the above realms instead, I'll at least narrow it down."

"What powers do you have, anyway?" Phoebe asked curiously. Sophie frowned slightly and shrugged.

"A few," she said evasively.

"What are they?" Prue repeated, raising an eyebrow. Sophie huffed.

"Orbing, Sensing, Advanced Telekinesis, Telekinetic Orbing, Psychokinesis, Telepathy, Empathy, Cloaking, Astral Projection, Aura Sight, Catoptromancy, Divination, Premonitions, Psychic Reflection, Clairaudience, Enhanced Intuition, Enhanced Senses, Hovering, Glamouring, Flight, Omnilingualism, Molecular Inhibition, Photokinesis, Apportation, Transportation Manipulation and Conjuring the Elements."

"Wow," Paige muttered after several moments of shocked silence. "I do not want to be around during your teen years."

"Don't worry," Sophie stated coolly. "If we don't change the future, you won't be," making her parents and aunts flinch. Prue, however, narrowed her eyes at her for a moment before something clicked and they widened and softened in realization.

"What powers does Wyatt have?" Patty asked. Sophie pursed her lips in irritation at the continued line of discussion before answering.

"Wyatt has Projection, all types of Telekinesis, Orbing, his Shield, Healing, Photokinesis, Literary Manipulation, Combustive Orbing, Conjuration, Energy Waves, Power Negation, Power Swapping, Pyrokinesis, Technopathy, Voice Manipulation, Telepathy, Levitation, Omnilingualism & Fire Throwing," she listed rapidly. The sisters' and Leo's jaws dropped.

"Those are the powers he gained naturally. He also got Adjusting, Audible Inundation, Blood Boiling, Energy Balls, Black Orbing, Black Telekinetic Orbing, Calling, Channeling, Crushing, Deviation, Energy Beam, Flaming, Force Blasts, Hypnosis, Illusion Casting, Mind Manipulation, Pressurization and Lazer Bolts through various rituals."

"Not very surprising," Penny muttered distractedly to her company, deep in thought. "Usually the eldest in our family has the more flashy, active powers. The second child tends to have more passive powers. And if he has Power Negation, fighting him would be difficult to say the least."

"No kidding," Sophie gave a bitter smile. Several scars on her torso seemed to tingle in remembrance of just how  _difficult_ it was to fight her elder brother.

"But anyways, the reason I can't really make any progress searching the Underworld is the Halliwells have too many enemies there and I don't have enough info to narrow it down. But, if I try and search for good beings who want to harm the family, it should cut down the list enough for me to see something, even if I just discover what species they are."

"Worth a shot at any rate," Prue shrugged. "Is there anything in particular you need?"

"Just a reflective surface of some kind," Sophie shrugged. "Preferably a mirror, but I've done it on metal plates, windows and stuff before. Not as effective though. It's usually more clouded than when I'm using a mirror."

"Any size?" Phoebe asked, rising to her feet.

"Bigger is better," Sophie flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. "Easier to focus with. But even a compact would do."

"No need," Paige clapped. "I've got just the thing. Mirror!" The mirror from her and Phoebe's bathroom appeared in a shower of orbs, leaning against the wall.

"Perfect," Sophie murmured. She used her telekinesis to lie it flat on the ground before kneeling beside it. The others hovered in the background. Piper clutching Wyatt close, not even noticing that Leo had wrapped an arm around her for support.

Sophie, meanwhile, had become entranced by the surface in front of her. To her eyes, it changed from reflecting the ceiling to show a swirling vortex of images that blurred into a mixture of colours. In her mind, she silently repeated her question over and over again.  _'Who is the good being after Wyatt Halliwell?'_

When the surface finally settled into a proper scene, she gasped aloud in shock at the sight. Of every scenario that had entered her head, this had never been one of them.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

Chapter Ten

The rest of the Halliwells waited anxiously while Sophie entered her trance. And what an unnerving trance it was.

Sophie stared at the mirror, muscles locked in place with a blank expression on her face. They watched in disturbed fascination as a layer of white 'film' slowly crept over her usually green eyes. Said eyes didn't blink at all. There wasn't even a flutter of an eyelash.

Paige moved to wave a hand in front of her niece's face, but Patty, who was standing beside her, grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Don't ever interrupt a Diviner who's in a trance," Penny instructed her granddaughters seriously. "It can cause the mental link they've formed to snap abruptly, which typically causes them to be stuck in a loop of the vision they'd just seen. They subsequently fall into comas and most often die from the mental strain."

The three witches' eyes widened and Paige carefully lowered her arm, stepping away from Sophie. "Got it," she replied. "No interrupting psychics. I'll remember that."

Piper's face had gone ashen white with horror at her grandmother's explanation, and Phoebe had a hand covering her mouth.

Penny surveyed them and felt her lips turn down at the corners. It seemed like it was time for a talk she had been planning to give them for a while now. It disturbed her to see their recent actions whenever she looked down at them.

Her granddaughters, the strongest witches alive, and the ones who were prophesised to be leaders in the war against evil, were more concerned with their sex lives than with saving innocents. It was completely unacceptable. They may not have been raised as witches, but they had been raised to be good, compassionate people. Their recent actions didn't reflect that however, and Penny was going to lay down the law at last.

"Girls, we need to have a talk," she announced. The sisters blanched, Paige muttering a quiet, "uh-oh" under her breath as they sat down on Aunt Pearl's couch after Penny had waved them to it. Once they were sitting, Penny began to pace in front of them, a stern expression on her face.

"I," she began. "Am deeply disappointed in your recent behaviour." She held up a hand to forestall any outraged defence from her girls. "No, you may speak when I'm done. For now, you'll listen, understood? As I was saying, you have not been acting like grown women, who are supposed to be dedicated to the defence of the innocent above all else. Instead, you're all acting like hormone-stricken teenagers, who only care about themselves.

The only way your Whitelighter can make you do your jobs is through bribery and coercion, for goddess sake, not even a threat to Wyatt makes you care. When Sophie was being threatened the assassin from the future, none of you put more than a token effort into helping her! While I understand your worry for Wyatt, casting a spell to see her memories was beyond the pale. An inexcusable violation of her privacy tantamount to mind raping her!"

The sisters recoiled at her words, but she continued before any of them could mount a defence against her harsh judgement.

"And, you don't bother trying to expand your repertoire of knowledge at all! Instead you rely on your reputations and the Book of Shadows for everything! It won't always work out girls! I would have expected that Prue's death would have shown you that you're not invincible!"

"That's not fair!" Piper finally found her voice and she surged to her feet in outrage. "We have always tried to protect innocents! Any time that someone comes to us for help we put our lives aside and work to help them! But how were we supposed to know how bad the future was?! Sophie only said that there was a threat to Wyatt, how were we supposed to-"

"You know perfectly well that Sophie couldn't tell you what you wanted to know!" Penny bellowed back. The yelling made Wyatt start to cry, so Leo quickly took him from Piper's arms and orbed down to the kitchen before she could argue or protest his actions. He put the baby in his downstairs playpen before orbing back upstairs again.

"All of you know the rules of time travel, so don't try and excuse yourselves! Even before Sophie's arrival you were acting this way!" Penny continued, ignoring Leo. "During the Titan crisis you didn't want to investigate, as if not knowing what was happening would make your worry go away, and when the Leprechauns were being attacked, didn't you make it clear you were helping against your will?"

Piper sputtered wordlessly, and Phoebe jumped in to defend herself and her sisters. Paige stayed seated, her big brown eyes fixed on her hands and a guilty look on her face as she chewed her lip. It was obvious that she knew Penny was right, but didn't want to admit it.

"We weren't raised for this!" Phoebe cried. "We didn't volunteer for our sister to die, or our lives to be constantly interrupted by dangers to our lives, or for my ex-husband to decide to become the Source of All Evil, or-"

"Possessed!" Penny bellowed back at her, cutting off her granddaughter who stared at her in shocked disbelief and denial.

"What?" She whispered.

Penny gave her a hard, unyielding look as she explained. "The Spirit of the Source is a possessing entity. Cole tried to fight it, but it was too powerful. The strain, combined with the stress and dangers of Purgatory, or wherever he went after being vanquished, caused his mind to snap. If any of you did more research than the minimum needed for each demon hunt, you would know that. He didn't choose to become the Source, and you could've exorcised it from him instead of killing if you'd just known that!"

Phoebe moaned, lifting a hand to her throat and falling to her knees in dismay. Paige scrambled off the couch and down onto the floor beside her, where she wrapped an arm around her now sobbing sister, guilt rising in her. It had been Paige who insisted they needed to vanquish Cole after all. Her conviction that convinced her sisters he was evil. What had she done?

Piper's fiery indignation had disappeared at Penny's curt explanation. She had no leg to stand on, and she knew that Penny was right. Her selfishness was unacceptable for someone who claimed the title of protector of the innocent. And what if Wyatt had picked up on her dislike of putting herself on the line for strangers? What if seeing his mother's suffering and unhappiness had contributed to his turn to evil?

Before she could voice any of her thoughts, Sophie groaned and shakily stumbled away from the mirror.

Sophie never got used to being in Divination trances. She had intended to use her Catoptromancy to do what was basically a more intense version of scrying, but her powers evidently had a mind of their own. Her psychic abilities over-powered her Catoptric ones and instead of searching for her elusive enemy, she found herself being a silent and unseen spectre to a scene that hadn't happened yet.

She was in the Manor hallway, with a direct line of sight toward herself and Leo. They both had worried, tense expressions. Sophie studied them, trying to figure out how far in the future this scene was. Her future self was dressed in a yellow top under a grey-blue sweatshirt and jeans. Her hair was in its' usual braid but slightly longer. A few months at the most she guessed.

"We need to fix this," Sophie declared. "Fast."

"Piper must have cast a spell," Leo answered with a worried tone. "She's the only one who could do this to them."

"Why would she do that?" Sophie protested.

"She wouldn't unless…Gideon wanted her to, to distract them like he did before, so he can go after Wyatt." Both Leo and the present Sophie's eyes widened in shock at his conclusion.

'Gideon, Gideon, Gideon' bounced around her head. Sophie had only met the Founder of Magic School once or twice in her timeline, but she knew him acceptably well in this one from her trips to Magic School's library. But Gideon was an Elder. Yes Sophie knew of several Elders who'd turned evil in her time, but that had all been linked to the Source's takeover.

Why would an Elder from 2004 commit infanticide? And how in the name of all the gods had he forced (because no way would she have willingly done so) Piper into enchanting her sisters? And what sort of spell was it?

The questions whirled through her mind as the vision changed to show the attic. Sophie's vision self was still dressed in the same clothes, and she was standing at the lectern flipping through the Book with a clenched jaw. Every few seconds she glanced up to check on Wyatt, who was sitting in the playpen, playing silently with a few blocks.

"Damn it," Sophie heard her vision self's frustrated thoughts. "There's nothing here! Damn it! How could I have been so goddessdamned blind?"

There was a thump, and Vision Sophie's gaze snapped up.

"Hello?" She called as she scanned the room quickly, but saw nothing. She looked back at the Book again but didn't even finish the page before there was another thud. Present Sophie felt dread pool in her stomach as her vision self's jaw clenched and she closed the Book of Shadows, heading over to the playpen and bending down to pick up the quiet baby.

"Time to get you outta here," she muttered to him. Just as she gripped his small waist, a burst of telekinesis sent her flying as Gideon appeared in a cloud of black.

"Don't make me sacrifice you both Sophia," Gideon warned, looking at her. Vision Sophie snarled, flinging out a hand and sending a wave of telekinesis at him before orbing to the playpen. As soon as she appeared, she sent a wave of lightning at him, catching him by surprise.

He stumbled, robes smoking, before he straightened. Vision Sophie was balancing Wyatt on her hip now, but was hesitating to leave. Present Sophie understood why, now that Gideon knew she had more than just telekinesis and orbing, she had lost the advantage of surprise. If she didn't stop him there, he might escape completely, leaving yet another threat to hover constantly over the Halliwell family.

But before her vision self could make a decision on whether or not to fight, Gideon abruptly orbed to just behind her, and stabbed her threw the stomach before she had finished turning to face him. As Vision Sophie collapsed to her knees, Gideon yanked Wyatt roughly from her arms.

"Dad!" She cried desperately, and Present Sophie, who had disassociated herself from the scene for the sake of her mental health, spared a moment to wonder why the hell she would ever acknowledge Leo as anything more than a sperm donor. Said man appeared in a cloud of orbs, naked panic on his face as he scrambled to Sophie's side.

"Sophie!" He gasped, turning her over in his arms. "No! Oh god!"

"It's for the best Leo," Gideon sighed, sounding genuinely mournful right before he orbed away.

'Insane' Sophie mentally labelled him as the vision changed again to show what looked like an office. It zeroed in on a wall covered by a heavy curtain. Then the curtain seemed to sweep aside on its' own, letting Sophie see that the fabric hid an elaborate mirror.

But the reflection was wrong. It showed a darker, more threatening room than the one Sophie was in. The place was frighteningly similar to some of Wyatt's bases and prisons in her time, and Sophie felt a shiver climb up her spine as she remembered one of the many books she studied on alternate worlds whilst preparing to travel back in time.

"By the goddess," she breathed. "What has he done?" The vision ended at the same time as her sentence did.

Sophie breathed heavily, stumbling back from the mirror she had just used for her vision. Remembering what she had just seen made her grimace and look away. Somehow she doubted that she would ever be comfortable around mirrors again after that. Not for a long while anyway.

"Sophie, are you okay?" Piper asked worriedly, hovering anxiously beside her lost-in-thought daughter. Leo was at her side with his hands glowing as he raised them to try and heal her. Sophie blinked and turned to them. Her disbelieving look at him made Leo put down his hands, the light disappearing.

"Did it work?" Prue prodded her niece. "You've just been staring at the mirror for like an hour."

"Yeah, you didn't blink at all," Paige agreed with a nod. "It was really creepy ya know."

"Thanks," Sophie snorted. "And yeah, it worked. It took me by surprise though."

"What did you see?" Penny asked, eyes studying her granddaughter sharply.

"I saw Wyatt's kidnapping in this timeline, instead of seeing just his captor or the kidnapping in mine." She paused to meet each of grimly. "It was Gideon. Leo's mentor. The Elder."

Not even Penny knew what to say in response to that.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Sophie's revelation quickly spins out of control.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.**

**Chapter Eleven**

It took Leo several moments to recover from his shock, but the moment he did so he began sputtering denials. "No," he shook his head desperately.

Sophie scowled in irritation. She had long ago learned what a waste it was to refuse to acknowledge the truth. Now people who did so drove her mad. Granted, a lot of things annoyed her. She wasn't a particularly easy-going person after all.

"No," Leo repeated. "It's not possible. Like you said, Gideon's an Elder. He's been my friend for decades. He was one of the Elders who fought for Piper and I to be allowed to get married. He would never do something as heinous as this. He-"

"I know what I saw," Sophie snapped, her limited patience now gone. "And I saw Gideon attacking Wyatt and I, and putting Phoebe and Paige under some sort of spell!

Believe me, Elders aren't immune from corruption. Gideon wants to kill Wyatt and we need to accept that and get to work on figuring out how to kill him and anyone conspiring with him!" She finished speaking and glared at her father stubbornly, as if she could force him to bend to her will by doing so.

"Sophie's right," Prue agreed, silencing Leo's next attempt to protest. "If she says this Elder, Gideon?, is our enemy, than we need to trust her and work on how to stop him without having to resort to hiring Darklighters to do it for us."

"Of course, we're not going to lower ourselves to hiring demonic mercenaries to take out our enemies," Penny sniffed disdainfully. She cast a sharp eye over her family. "Halliwells," she declared firmly, lifting her index finger. "Do not have other people deal with our problems for us. We most  _certainly_  don't trust demons to do so." Contempt dripped from her tone at the very thought.

"At least you know that demons are going to betray you," Sophie pointed out cynically. "But someone 'good' (she made air-quotes as she said the word.) doing so always takes you off guard."

"What a lovely way to see the world," Paige muttered mockingly into Phoebe's ear, too low for anyone else to hear. The middle sister gave her an amused look before returning her attention to the matter at hand.

"That's hardly the reason we don't hire mercenaries my dear," Penny sniffed. She elaborated at Sophie's raised eyebrow. "They're demons darling. Stupidity is synonymous with the species."

"True enough Mother," Patty interrupted. "But I think that we-" she was cut off by a loud crash from downstairs.

"Wyatt!" Piper cried, snapping out of her distracted haze. Paige grabbed her arm and Phoebe's before orbing downstairs seconds after Sophie had done so. Leo followed with the three ghostly Halliwells a moment later.

When Sophie reformed in the living room, the first thing she did was scan the room to identify the threats. She recognized the demon immediately, a surge of hatred welling up in her seconds after as she realized that the attacker was Izax, the demon Wyatt had put in charge of the Witch Hunters.

Izax was a mid-level demon for several centuries until he gained (unofficial) control of the Hunters. Nathaniel Pratt was the public leader, but Izax was the one who captured, tortured and murdered the people they took captive. _After_  stealing the genuine witches' powers of course.

Sophie's hatred for him was just a little less than her hatred for Wyatt, but was unmixed with the streak of love she still held for her older brother despite everything he had done to the world, their family and its' legacy, and her personally.

"Izax," she spat out his name. "What are you doing here?"

A flicker of surprised smugness crossed his red-and-black face. "Well, the Charmed Ones' renegade Whitelighter knows who I am," he smirked, recovering quickly. "I'm flattered, truly I am."

She glared viciously at him, ignoring the appearance of the angry Charmed Ones.

If he were at this strength and from her time, he would have taken it as a sign that he desperately needed to get the hell out of the house and as deep in the Underworld as he could in the hopes of hiding from her. Instead, he was arrogantly pleased at what he considered to be a sign of fame.

After all, everyone in the Underworld knew by now that the Charmed Ones' Whitelighter only cared about big threats. Mid-and-lower-level demons were generally beneath her notice unless she wanted information from them. As with every hierarchy, the low levels tended to hear the high-levels discussions. If they could fade into the background well enough.

He really should have run. Sophie was  _very_  angry, stressed and had a voice in the back of her head reminding her of what was at stake every few seconds. The sight of Izax, who had tortured her for three months straight before the Rebellion had finally managed to break her out of the prison Wyatt had converted Magic School into, having the audacity to smile at her, infuriated her. And like her volatile mother, when Sophie was upset she lashed out.

That was why the other Halliwells were greeted by the sight of lightning arching out of her palms when they arrived.

"Being of evil, with coal-black eyes," Sophie growled as Izax screamed in pain from the electricity coursing through his body. "Flames and pain will be your demi-"

"No!" Patty and Penny cried in unison.

"We need to interrogate him and find out why he attacked Wyatt," Phoebe added as Piper picked up the squalling child and bounced him gently.

"Shh," she cooed to him. "Shh, it's okay. Mommy's here, you're alright." The baby began calming down as he listened to his mother's gentle crooning. Meanwhile, Sophie had reluctantly acknowledged the truth in her aunt's words, and stopped her vanquishing spell.

Half-an-hour later, Wyatt was having his nap while the Halliwells surrounded the crystal cage where Izax was trapped.

"You're not, a Whitelighter," Izax accused Sophie bitterly.

She stood with her arms crossed under her bust and a blank expression on her face. "Really?" she raised an eyebrow at him. "What gave it away? The lightning or the spell?"

He glared bitterly at her. "I think it was when you electrocuted me, you Source-damned witch," he snarled the word like a curse.

She gave an icy smile back at him. Izax shifted uncomfortably as a shiver went down his spine from the vicious look in her cold green gaze.

"Why did you attack my son?" Piper snapped, striding forward with her patience gone. "Answer me. Now." She raised her hands threateningly.

He glared back at her defiantly. "I don't gotta answer shit," he insisted belligerently. "Don't the US 'ave some sorta law abou' the right ta remaining silent?"

"You vetoed any rights when you decided to try and kill my nephew," Paige snapped. She and Phoebe stepped up to stand on either side of their sister. Given it was the stance they always took when preparing to invoke the Power of Three, Izax faltered in fear at their actions.

"I wasn' gonna 'urt 'im," Izax declared sulkily. "I was jus' gonna borrow 'im fer a lidl while."

" _Borrow_  him?" Piper shrieked in fury. "My son can't be  _borrowed_!" she shoved the crystal nearest her out of its' position and caused the spell to activate. The demon started to scream and writhe in agony.

"There's a bounty!" He called desperately. Penny silently moved the crystal back into its' proper position, stopping the pain. He lay there for a second, panting for breath.

"Pathetic," Sophie scoffed in bitter irritation. "Talk," she bit out. "Now." When he didn't answer straight away, she snarled and jerked her hand, moving the crystal out of place again. He started to scream in renewed pain.

"Sophie!" Patty reprimanded her. The youngest Halliwell ignored her, stalking closer to him with a bitter expression on her face.

"What you can dish it out but you can't take it?" she scoffed. Her eyes glinted with suppressed rage and trauma as she raised her hands. "What about this?" she demanded. She stuck out her left arm, wrist angled at 90 degrees. A jet of flame flew from her palm and hit him in the shoulder. Izax howled as the fire engulfed his arm and the electricity from the cage continued to course through his body.

"Sophie!" Piper snapped, grabbing her daughter's arm and pulling her back a few steps. "That's enough! You're going to kill him and we need to get answers first!"

"Your mother's right Sophie," Leo agreed, a frown on his face as he moved to stand up beside his ex-wife. "Interrogating demons this way isn't something I approve of in general, but you were just being cruel there. You can't-"

"Get revenge on the monster who tortured me for three months," she hissed. Leo's mouth clapped shut, the colour draining from his and Piper's faces.

"Oh god," Paige muttered. She flashed Izax, still dazed on the floor. "You're gonna pay for that," she warned his unconscious form darkly.

"Honey," Piper breathed. She reached out for her, but Sophie stepped back with a sharp shake of the head.

"I'm going," Sophie announced. "I need to get some air. If I have to keep looking at that sonovabitch than I'm gonna kill the goddessdamned bastard." She flashed a dark look at the form on the floor in the cage. The others were at a loss as to figure out what to say.

"Sweetheart, I'll come with you," Piper begged. She reached out to grab Sophie's arm but she stepped back out of reach.

"No," Sophie refused, shaking her head. She cast another vicious look at the demon lying helplessly on the floor before shaking her head again. "I really need to be on my own," she continued. "I just can't deal with you people right now. I seriously can't." She orbed away a second later, leaving her mother's arm hanging in a lonely manner in mid-air.

"My baby," Piper whispered brokenly.

She turned her back on Leo, who had reached for her, and gave a desperate look at Penny, Prue and Patty. For that minute, she looked more like a young child who wanted her eternal protectors to make everything alright instead of Piper Halliwell, the Seventeeth Matriarch of the Warren Line and Eldest Charmed Sister.

"Oh, my darling," Penny murmured. She swooped over, long white sleeves trailing after her, and enveloped her oldest living granddaughter in a tight hug. "We'll figure this out, darling," she whispered in Piper's ear. "I promise."

"We definitely will," Paige agreed, exchanging a look of solemn determination with Phoebe, Prue and Patty.

"Yeah," Phoebe added loyally. "We're Halliwells, no one gets away with messing with one of our family. Especially not our favourite, neurotic niece."

"We're with you Piper," Prue declared, slipping in to join the hug, her mother and other younger sisters inserting themselves in just after her.

"Everything is going to work out sweetheart," Patty added soothingly. "It will. The Angels of Destiny owe you and your babies all the happiness in the world, and that's what you're going to get."

Leo hovered just behind them, feeling lost and left out. His own words from several months before echoed in his head. "You're not family," he had sneered at his (at the time unknown) daughter. Oh how wrong he was. Sophie was family. And right now? Leo wasn't.

He looked up at the ceiling as the familiar chiming of the Elders summoning him sounded in his head. He bit his lip and glanced back at where the women were all still comforting Piper. And then he orbed away.

* * *

Sophie rematerialized in the warehouse she had claimed as her own. The scents of herbs and smoke still lingered from her earlier ceremony, and she could see traces of the chalk on the floor where she had drawn the circle.

Now that she was alone, she could no longer hold back the tears, or the memories, and she fell down onto the cement ground, sobs breaking out of her. Her chest heaved and the memories of Izax's cruel gaze, along with his vicious laugh at her screams of agony, crashed over like a wave.

It was a good thing that she had cast spells over everything to keep them from being destroyed by any surges of magic, because her active powers were wrecking havoc on the building itself.

"Damn it!" she screamed. "Damn it all! Why me?" She yelled desperately at the ceiling, pounding the floor so hard she could feel the bruises starting. "I wasn't important! I was just the Fateless Halliwell! That's what they called me! The girl who didn't have any fucking prophecies made about her! Why the goddessdamned hell am I the one responsible for fixing this mess? Why damnit, why?"

"Because that's your destiny," a quiet voice came from behind her. Sophie spun around, arms lifting in an automatic attempt to protect herself.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie is given a shocking revelation, the effects of which will be felt throughout the rest of her lives.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites. Keep them coming please, they make my day! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Twelve**

Sophie stared in wide-eyed shock at the woman standing calmly in front of her, apparently indifferent to the fact that she had broken through some of the best wards in existence.

The woman had dark skin, dark brown eyes and midnight black hair in dreadlocks that were pulled back into a ponytail with several beads at the ends of them. She wore a light blue, flowing dress that fell past her feet with a matching scarf tied around her neck.

An aura of power radiated from the woman. She was possibly the strongest being Sophie had ever faced. Her aura was deep enough that Sophie had the irrational feeling she would fall into the multi-coloured aura and drown in it. Any attempt to fight her, Sophie knew instinctively, would result in failure. And an embarrassing failure at that.

But unlike Wyatt's aura, which was now the  _second_ -strongest aura Sophie had ever seen, the being's aura was uncorrupted. It wasn't Good, but it certainly wasn't Evil either. She was a neutral being then. That wasn't very surprising either, most Neutral species tended to be on the powerful side, such as the Avatars.

But Sophie had met an Avatar once, and this woman was stronger than even Alpha was. So that had to mean.

"You're an Angel of Destiny," she stated her realization allowed. She lowered her hands. Angels of Destiny were Immortal and Immune to any type of attack, Sophie would do nothing but embarrass herself if she attacked the woman. "What do you want with me?"

Sophie had always been wary of the Angels of Destiny. Sophie knew from infancy that she was going to be the Matriarch of the Warren Line. That was her fate, and truthfully, she was glad not to be subject to a prophecy. The suffering and grief their destinies caused the Charmed Ones, as well as her brother's belief that he was better than everyone else because he was subject of  _two_  prophecies, had put her off, although it  _had_  caused trouble for her as a child too.

But from the moment she came up with the idea for the mission she had been anxious that the Angels would intervene somehow to prevent her from fulfilling it. After all, Sophie planned to change the destinies of everyone in existence in her time. If anything could piss off the Protectors of Fate, that would.

She swallowed, tensing and raising her chin defiantly. She covered her fear with her trademark 'Come and Get Me' expression that made Wyatt hit the roof every time he saw her casual impudence towards him and his power.

To Sophie's surprise, the Angel actually smiled gently at her.

"Yes," she agreed. "I am. And I have come to discuss  _your_ destiny with you, Sophia Halliwell."

"What about my destiny?" Sophie demanded sharply. She hid a wince when she realized what she'd automatically done. Despite the opinions of pretty much everyone who knew her, Sophie did, in fact, have self-preservation instincts. They were just small. And she didn't listen to them very much if she thought she could get away with it.

The Angel's smile gained an edge of amusement, and Sophie suspected her thoughts were being read. She wasn't arrogant enough to believe that her mental shields were strong enough to keep out an omniscient being after all.

"Shall we sit?" the Angel asked, conjuring up a second chair at the desk where Sophie worked. She didn't give the witch a chance to answer, simply walking over and sitting down, smoothing the folds of her dress as she did so.

Reluctantly, Sophie copied her and sat, crossing her arms to keep from doing something stupid and suicidal like trying to set the woman on fire. "What do you want with me?" She kept her expression defiant as she stared the Angel down.

"So suspicious," the Angel sighed. "I suppose that's our fault though. We had to make you hard to let you survive to complete your destiny."

"What do you mean?" Sophie gritted out, frustrated by the Angel's vagueness. "I don't have a damn destiny! You've got the wrong Halliwell hun!"

"Just because you don't have a prophecy written down about you that you know about, doesn't mean you don't have a destiny equally as important as, if not  _more_  important, than the rest of your family," the Angel answered her calmly, indifferent to the witch's sparking fingertips. "Everyone has a destiny. Sometimes it's as small as having a child who will grow up to change the course of history, sometimes it's as large as your mother's, stopping the Source of All Evil.

But," she met Sophie's unsettled gaze. "The problem with you and your brother's destinies is that they were misinterpreted."

"What do you mean misin-?" Sophie began, the Angel cutting her off before she could finish her question. Sophie scowled in annoyance at being interrupted, though she continued to listen intently to the being.

"Free will does exist, though there is also a set course for the universe that it is my peoples' duty to safeguard. But it can be sent off the proper path, and that is what happened in your timeline. Before your birth, your brother was incorrectly labelled the subject of  _two_  prophecies, instead of just one, which was the real amount of destinies he has."

Sophie's eyes went wide in shock at the claim as the Angel continued with her explanation.

"This caused an Elder, who was also suffering the unseen effects of a mental break after an encounter with the Titans, to fear the balance would be endangered.

In Gideon's defence, he was correct that such a concentrated amount of power could very well corrupt a person. But his actions damaged your brother's mind. Combined with other lessons unintentionally learned during his childhood, the message 'might is right' was ingrained in Wyatt's mind. And the death of your mother was the final straw for Wyatt's mind.

The remainder of his sanity collapsed under the weight of his grief, and he decided the only way to protect himself from ever feeling such pain again would be to control everything. That way, no one he cared for would ever suffer again, and he would be protected from being hurt."

"Okay," Sophie swallowed. "But what does any of this have to do with my destiny?"

"Angels exist almost outside of time and space," the Angel explained carefully. " _Almost._ While we know the future, there are still limits to our powers, and by the time we realized what Gideon had done, it was too late to stop the damage. What we  _could_  do was create someone to mitigate the destruction, and when the time came, to fix everything. That's when you became our failsafe plan.

You were already destined to be born, but we added to your destiny, and nudged you toward certain skills and knowledge we knew you need when the time came. We also altered your brain chemistry to allow you to learn those skills quicker, and to allow you to become emotionally distant from trauma more easily."

As she spoke, Sophie's mind flashed through various times when she had been drawn to certain books, understanding them no matter complex they were or her age and education level. Times of horror and confusion when she had been completely cool-headed, like the day Wyatt had revealed himself.

Magic School had been destroyed, magic itself exposed, the various creatures under attack and her best friend's blood was staining her clothes. Despite all of that, Sophie had been completely calm, grabbing supplies and getting her hysterical friends to safety without any panic. She had been called a sociopath multiple times due to her lack of obvious panic or upset at the tragedies she saw. It all made sense now, with what the Angel was telling her.

"We also made sure that most of your powers wouldn't become active until after you had split from your brother to give you another advantage. Then we made sure you wouldn't suffer as many effects of forcing their advancement as you should have. If not for that, you would've died from the stress you put on your body after all the pressure you put on yourself."

Sophie's hands shook slightly as she placed her head in them. "Okay," she agreed softly. "But why tell me all of this? And why now of all times? Why not let me know any of this back in my own timeline? And I assume that my original destiny was to be the next Warren Matriarch, right?"

"We are telling you this because you must know it," the Angel informed her primly. There was a trace of sympathy in her voice as she spoke. "Because you travelled back in time to do this, you caused a time loop. Your next self, the version due to be conceived in the next few weeks, will eventually need to do the same thing as you."

"What?" Sophie interrupted, her eyes widening in surprise, though when she thought it over, she was annoyed at herself for not thinking about it sooner.

If her younger self didn't time travel and do everything exactly the same way as Sophie, the timeline wouldn't be changed and would subsequently revert to the original, causing Sophie to make the decision to change, and resulting in an endless loop that would morph into a paradox from the stress on the constantly changing timeline.

There were a dozen different theories of what would happen if a paradox occurred, and most of them involved the universe imploding or exploding from the strain. Sophie grimaced at the thoughts running through her head. Her head which had apparently been altered by the Angels of Destiny. She quickly shoved that train of thought away and nodded to the Angel.

"I understand, please, go on," she asked as respectfully as she could manage. The Angel nodded back at her and went on.

"As I'm sure your wondering, when the time comes, your younger self will need to go under a spell, turning her physically and mentally into you, and travel back to the same date that you did. That will allow her timeline to remain unchanged.

We decided to tell you now because the time for you to fulfil this particular destiny is approaching quickly and you'll find yourself very busy after today," she told Sophie, causing the witch to bite the inside of her cheek anxiously at the news.

"We didn't tell you this in your own timeline because, frankly, we were too busy trying to keep the remainders of reality in tact to spare the time. The damage to the Web of Fate and the Grand Design was immense, and every last one of us was need to keep the shreds of them together.

And as for your first destiny," the Angel met Sophie's eyes, and the witch found herself shifting at the intensity in the other woman's gaze.

Her defiance was long gone, replaced by fascination, and a bit of that emotional distance the Angels had given her to let her protect her sanity from her trauma. She wondered briefly if her younger self would have the same advantages, or if she would have to wait until she was under the effects of the spell to do so. And what would happen when she went back to the 2020's again.

"I believe this belongs to you," the Angel murmured. She waved her hand and Sophie gasped in shock at what appeared to hover in the air in front of her.

Her expression was dazed as she reached out to grasp the item, and when her fingers closed around it, a golden light appeared to envelope her, her hair whipping in the air as a lyric-less song she remembered being playing constantly in the back of her mind when she was a child started up again after years of silence.

The Angel stood and went into a deep curtsey. "Hail, Sophia Prudence Halliwell," she said formally. "Eighteenth Matriarch of the Warren Line, Guardian of the Book of Shadows and Defender of Good." She met the young witch's eyes steadily as she finished in a voice that seemed to echo with the power of her words. "Reincarnation of King Arthur, Once and Future Queen of Magic."


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo sees Gideon for the first time since Sophie's accusation, and receives some grave news.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed or faved this!**

**Chapter Thirteen**

Leo materialized as silently as a ghost in the Heavens. The Elders were gathered together in clusters, whispering urgently to each other in the clicking-like language of the Whitelighters and their Elder superiors.

Leo looked around with a deep frown. He looked around in search of someone he knew and was friendly with. Preferably not Gideon. Though he was still in denial about Sophie's accusation of his mentor being the one who would kidnap Wyatt and traumatize his son so badly that he grew up to become the Source of All Evil, he still wasn't sure how he would react if he saw the other man.

"Leo," a female Elder came up to him, pulling down her hood to reveal it was Sandra. She had a serious expression on her face.

"Sandra," he greeted her. "What's going on? Why is everybody so frantic?"

"It's Barbas," she replied stonily. "He has returned. Again."

"How?" Leo gasped in dismay and shocked horror. Barbas was one of the worst enemies the sisters had faced, with only the Source and Cole being worse. "The gir-the Charmed Ones vanquished him. How could he have escaped  _again_?"

"Someone has resurrected him for some reason," she replied, a worried frown on her face. "We don't know who, and we don't know why either."

"But whatever scheme that needs the Demon of Fear for it, has to be vicious," Leo completed his comrade's train of thought.

"Ah, Leo!" At the sound of Gideon's familiar voice, Leo felt his spine go rigid. He forced his expression to remain calm as he turned to face his friend(?) Was Gideon really his friend? Or was he plotting to murder his son?

"Gideon," he gave the man a tense smile, hoping he would blame Leo's obvious tension on his recent obsession with Sophie. And it was an obsession, he could acknowledge that now. He hadn't wanted to accept the fact that the failure of his marriage was his own fault so he had focused his attention on Sophie, using her as a target for his anger.

Even if he hadn't been such an awful father in Sophie's timeline, even if he had been the most loving, attentive, over-protective father to ever exist, she would still have grounds to loathe him for the way he had treated her since she first appeared.

"Leo," Gideon's voice broke through his racing thoughts, breaking through his whirling mind. The two other Elders were giving him worried looks and he realized they must have been talking to him and he had been too lost in his head to listen to them.

"Leo, are you alright?" Sandra asked him in concern. "You didn't seem to hear us."

"Ah, yes I'm fine," he assured them. "Just distracted. This news about Barbas returning to life again is very serious. I should warn the sisters. He'll want revenge for them defeating him."

"That's their Whitelighter's responsibility, Leo," Gideon scolded him mildly. "I understand that you're attached to the Halliwells, but they are Sophie's concern now. As Elders, we must focus on the bigger picture and the more that you direct time you spend with them, the harder it will be for you to leave them behind again."

Leo clenched his jaw in frustration at the topic being broached for what seemed like the millionth time since he had joined the ranks of the Elders. Then he started to wonder if Gideon had a more sinister motive. Then he got annoyed at himself for doubting his oldest friend.

"Anyway, enough of that," Gideon waved his hand loftily. "I actually need to speak to the sisters. And I shall need an introduction to the young Miss Perry in order to do so. How are you feeling regarding her at the moment, may I ask by the way?"

"She's my daughter," Leo blurted out without thinking. If he had, he would've thought to wait until after the next family meeting before making Sophie's heritage known. But he didn't, and so he continued with his revelation, Sandra and Gideon growing more shocked as he added. "Mine and Piper's. That's why she came back to save Wyatt, and it's why she can't heal, and isn't a pacifist. She's a half-Whitelighter, not a full one."

"Oh my," Sandra breathed, still looking and sounding stunned. "That is  _quite_ a shock. But I must admit, that explanation  _does_ cause certain things to make sense now that I have the proper context for them."

"Yes, indeed," Gideon said, a thoughtful squint to his eyes.

Leo wondered darkly if it was just his own paranoia making it seem as if there was a sinister glint to them. Or if Gideon was secretly adjusting his murderous plot to include his daughter in them. He shook away the traitorous thought. If Gideon wasn't involved, the last thing Leo wanted to do was drive away his closest friend. If he was, then Leo definitely didn't want to tip him off that they were on to him.

"Why do you need to speak to the girls?" he asked as he tucked his hands into his sleeves. Sandra said her goodbyes and headed over to where Kevin was gesturing her over to his group. "Is it about Barbas?"

"No," Gideon denied, shaking his head. "Barbas is not my main concern at the moment. The other Elders are investigating, but I have grave problems of my own to concentrate on.

There is a serious problem at Magic School. A student has conjured the Headless Horseman, and unfortunately he has begun to hunt the teachers. I was hoping that the Charmed Ones would be able to find the student and help stop the Horseman himself.

For the moment, the Horseman is confined to the school, and all the victims have been kept alive by its' power. But should anyone be decapitated whilst they were outside of its' protections then they would be properly dead and the student who conjured the Horseman would be lost to evil." He stepped closer to Leo, looking seriously at him.

"At the moment, I believe that the student is only being manipulated by an outside force of evil. A demon or a warlock are the best guesses I have. But if someone is killed properly, then the soul of the student will be lost forever. We  _must_ find out who is summoning the Horseman before that or Magic School will be forced to close, under the guidelines agreed upon by the Elders when we first opened the School. It must not happen Leo!

It is much too dangerous, what will the students do without the teachers to guide them in staying true to the Greater Good?"

Leo swallowed, but not because of Gideon's speech. No, the reason for his worry because of the manic gleam in the other Elder's eye when he spoke about the 'Greater Good.' A sick feeling stirred in his stomach even as he muttered out agreement and a promise to find Sophie and introduce her to the headmaster of Magic School.

* * *

Sophie had seen the incident with the Horseman as an opportunity to find the mirror from her vision. Otherwise, she had no excuse to be searching the School, and while she didn't doubt her ability to search the School undetected, at least this way she wasn't searching the entire (infinite) completely building by herself.

Her Aunt Paige was on her first day as a teacher, which would eventually lead to a career as Deputy Headmistress of the School, Sophie knew from a short, painfilled personal experience before being transferred to Knox, where she'd actually be happy. Phoebe was searching the school, allegedly for the Horseman, and in actuality for evidence of Gideon's plan to commit infanticide. Finally, Piper was observing the Magic School nursery, and when Sophie had checked on the mental bond between herself and her mother, she could sense Piper's depression, concern, and almost manic over-protective over Wyatt.

She could also sense Piper's desire to be with her, not even to act as a mother, but simply to be there for Sophie while she was struggling, and to assure her that Piper wasn't going to let herself be killed and leave Sophie alone to deal with everything by herself.

But if Sophie started scratching at the wall she shoved all her grief and pain and various other grim emotions behind, she would without question have a mental breakdown. And Sophie, no, not just Sophie. And the world could not afford that. Too much was at stake for Sophie to collapse and start throwing a fit about things she couldn't change.

That was also the reason she was refusing to think about either the Angel of Destiny's shocking revelation that she still couldn't bring herself to believe, or Izax, still trapped in the attic of the Manor. Nor was she allowing herself to connect the thought of Izax to the last time she had been in her time's Magic School, as a prisoner being tortured.

At this particular moment in time, with teachers being attacked, the wards preventing anyone being murdered while they were on Magic School grounds were a good thing. In Sophie's time, where the School had become Wyatt's prison, those same spells had denied thousands of his captives the sweet release of death. Sophie herself had only survived because Phaedra, the one member of the family to side with Wyatt, had gained a conscious after she had spent a month in Izax's 'tender care'.

Fay had died getting her out and Sophie had never quite been able to figure out how to feel about it. She solved the problem by ignoring the existence of it instead.

She pulled up as she entered another hallway, just in time to see Gideon and his assistant Sigmund exit a room and disappear around a corner. Instantly interested, Sophie glanced and sensed around herself to check if anyone could see what she was doing before she turned herself invisible with a quick chant of her cloaking/safe-guarding spell, and crept silently over to the door.

To her dismay, it was locked by a surprisingly strong ward. One with an extra ward intertwined with it to sound an alarm if anybody managed to break inside. Still not enough to keep the Ward Mistress of the Resistance out, but it was complicated enough that she spent several minutes longer than she would have preferred working to unlace them from each so she could take them down without Gideon noticing, as well as learning them well enough to restore them after she was done.

Finally, she was done with everything except the lock and she paused to come up with a suitable locking spell.

"Tick-tock, goes the clock," she whispered softly, glancing around herself warily and tapping the tip of a fingernail against the doorknob delicately. "Click-click goes the lock. Open now, with a shock!" With her last word, a tiny spark flew from her fingertip into the keyhole. There was a soft sound as the door unlocked, and she straightened with a smug smile as she pushed open the door and sauntered in as if she owned the place.

She paused for another minute to restore the wards so if anyone passed by they wouldn't realize there was a problem. Now that she had dissected the ward-scheme, she could easily recreate them. Hell, she could have created those wards from scratch as a twelve-year-old.

With that all done, she began to carefully and systematically search the large room Gideon had made his office. She started with the desk, scanning through the documents and both looking and sensing for any hidden compartments.

Oddly enough, she found nothing. There was no documents that weren't related to Magic School, nothing on any prophecies or the history of the Warren line. Not even a book on the Legends of King Arthur, for the Goddess' sake! And none of the many,  _many_  artefacts and statues decorating the room had hollow insides where any incriminating evidence could be found either.

It was genuinely beginning to make her angry, and the constant, soft echo was giving her a headache. Then she suddenly stopped to mentally repeat what her previous thoughts. The constant, soft  _echo_ was giving her a headache. The mirror darted to the forefront of her thoughts and she spun in a circle on her heel, trying to recall where exactly the mirror had been in her vision.

Her gaze fell on a heavy, full-length velvet curtain, and a smirk rose to her lips as she stalked over and wrenched it aside.

"Well, well," she and her evil duplicate muttered in unison. "Isn't this interesting?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie has a talk with her alternate.

**Don't own Charmed.**

**Chapter Fourteen**

The two Sophie's studied each other with wary expressions. Taking in her counterpart, Sophie felt a grimace form on her face.

For years her worst nightmare had been that she would one day find it too difficult to continue resisting her brother and she would give in to his demands and become as evil as him. And now she was looking at the poster-child for Goth girls version of herself, that very same nightmare brought to life.

Evil Sophie was the complete opposite to her (in looks at least.) While Good Sophie's hair was just long enough to be tied into a tight, fishtail braid and thus kept securely out of the way, Evil Sophie had it done in a gothic-bun that reminded Sophie of a spider, with dark-blue highlights in it. She was wearing a thick coating of black and red make-up, including thick black mascara and brilliant red lipstick, unlike the Good counterpart, who hadn't worn make-up in years.

In contrast to Good Sophie, who was dressed simply in a modest lilac shirt with three-quarter length sleeves and a round neckline and a pair of old denim skinny jeans with a faded bloodstain around a rip on the thigh, Evil Sophie was dressed in a sleeveless red-and-black corset with several black buckles keeping it closed.

She had a  _very_  short, miniskirt on underneath the corset. It was black, with several pouches attached to a pair of silver chains dangling from each side. Sophie could see a packet of cigarettes sticking out of the open one. Some lace was wrapped around the middle, and two zips revealed the presence of pockets. Sophie had no doubt that there were real pockets there, as it gave more space to hide weapons and potions on herself. It was finished off with three buttons going up to her belly. Sophie sincerely doubted her ability to bend over without exposing herself to the world in it.

Unlike her good counterpart, who had a pair of old running shoes on, she had a pair of black stiletto-heeled, knee-length boots that were probably sharp enough to kill a person with. Actually, Sophie was pretty sure that she _could_  see faint traces of dried blood on them.

Unlike Sophie, who's only jewellery was her engagement ring and the necklace it hung from, and a silver charm bracelet with various gems dangling from it, as well as a pair of simple earrings made from agate for protection, her Evil Self had several pieces of jewellery on.

There was an iron bar going through the top of her left ear (with agate tips, Sophie noted), as well as three silver hoops in the same ear and a double stud in the right. A leather necklace was looped around her neck, and Sophie could see a black ring that was in the shape of a bird, with the wings encircling the finger on her left hand. Sophie assumed it was the evil version of her engagement ring, despite it being slightly different to hers and on the wrong finger. Sophie put hers on the wrong finger to throw people off as well, after all.

Finally, Evil Sophie had a single red goth-style wrist cuff that went to her elbow with black ribbons tying it closed. There were several black-painted gems glinting, and Sophie would put money that they were disguised versions of the ones on her bracelet.

The most disturbing part of her evil counterpart's appearance was the Darklighter crossbow dangling from Evil Sophie's left shoulder. Good Sophie automatically tensed at the sight of it, taught since birth to fear the deadly poison on the arrows' tips.

"So," they finally said in unison, jolting slightly at the strangeness of it. Good Sophie, having been raised to be polite, carefully signalled for her counterpart to go ahead.

"Right," Evil Sophie repeated as she smoothed down her skirt, the only sign that she felt anything other than calm was the way her fingers danced over the cigarettes. Probably the only reason she didn't take one out was because it would leave a scent behind, thus revealing that someone had gotten inside the office to Gideon.

"I suppose you're looking for proof of Gideon's treachery as well?" Evil Sophie half-asked, half-stated, raising her eyebrow at her.

Good Sophie nodded crisply, trying to keep her discomfort covered. Bile was trying to crawl its' way up her throat, and she was barely keeping a meltdown at bay. Her only comfort was that if she was feeling like this, her Evil Self was undoubtably in the same state. And Sophie wasn't about to let herself be the one to break the illusion that they were maintaining. Sophia Prudence Halliwell didn't show weakness to  _anyone_ , not even herself.

"Yes," she agreed. "I'm surprised, given your allegiance, that you haven't just killed him?" She let the statement hang in the air as a question, tilting her head slightly. The other version of her grimaced in answer.

"I would, but  _Leo_ ," she spat the name bitterly. "Is determined to have proof first. And I suppose that it  _does_  appeal to my vindictive side, to have Gideon humiliated and publicly executed instead of just shooting him. He deserves to suffer for all the pain that he caused, Goddess damn the psychotic, treacherous bastard."

"I agree with you there," Sophie hummed in answer, tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear as she thought.

"I'm surprised that a good girl like yourself would appreciate the benefits of letting your enemies suffer before killing them," Evil Sophie smirked mockingly, crooking an eyebrow.

Sophie gave her an icy look. "I did grow up in a world ruled by the Source of All Evil, you know," she pointed out before changing the subject. "If we wait here for a while, he'll have to come back and speak to his counterpart soon enough. Then we could use our memories as proof of his plot."

Evil Sophie sighed heavily, playing with her bow and frowning. "I'd prefer to do it myself," she muttered. "I don't trust other people not to screw everything up. Goddess knows that the Elders are all idiots. They do have Leo as one of them, after all."

"I don't like it either," Sophie conceded. "But I don't have any other ideas on how to stop him. I don't have any Elder-killing poison, thanks very much."

"Neither do I," Evil Sophie scoffed. "I suppose that if Elders and (she paused to grimace and sneer out the word)  _Whitelighters a_ re on the same side against Evil in your world, it makes sense that Darklighter poison would kill them both, but here my poison is only lethal to Whitelighters. And of course, just shooting or electrocuting him won't work because he's a damn Elder. Fuck it all."

"And, we have to be careful of the Balance," Sophie reminded her counterpart. "Our universes are supposed to stay separate. We risk endangering the Grand Design if we aren't careful, and who knows what the consequences of that would be?"

"I don't want to find out, that's for sure," Evil Sophie crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her left leg. "In this case, and this case only, I have no desire to break the rules. But we shouldn't be differing in our actions as long as we stick to our worlds. If one of us were to cross, or we both swapped places..."

Her voice trailed off, both it and her eyes going into a distant, trance-like state as she always did when her precognitive abilities stirred slightly. Good Sophie also gained a far-away expression, seeing in her mind's eye, a world of eternal sunshine and rainbows, where the slightest rule-breaking and negativity resulted in capital punishment.

She shuddered, breaking out of her sudden vision as a gunshot cracked out and she saw her Aunt Phoebe collapse with a bloodstain growing on her flowery top, Paige shrieking in horror and rushing to help her sister with panic radiating from her.

She swallowed, locking gazes with her other self. "We can't let that happen," they said in unison, nodding at each other in agreement.

A noise from the corridor made them both turn, eyes narrowing in concentration as they listened carefully. They turned back to each other as they recognized Gideon and his assistant, Sigmund, speaking to each other.

"Alright," Evil Sophie said quickly. "We'll wait and listen."

"Hide!" Sophie hissed back, feeling a momentary stab of irritation at her mother and aunts. Sophie had never wasted time stating the obvious before travelling back in time and joining up with the Halliwell Group of Lunatics, as she had mentally (and  _definitely_ secretly) dubbed the Charmed Ones and their 'in the know' friends.

_"Let me fade into the air, let those who seek me know not where,"_ she began the chant. It was so familiar that she barely needed to think about it by now.  _"Let them who seek me, pass me by, let no harm reach me from their eye."_

She disappeared, yanking the curtain back into place just before the door opened.

"We can talk safely in here," Gideon murmured after closing the door. "Despite the circumstances, the Headless Horseman attacking is actually quite fortunate. Now we can work on gaining the sisters' trust. Once we have it, we will be able to persuade Piper to start leaving Wyatt in the school nursery. She will have to realize the advantages of having him attend here. No need to be concerned about exposure or demonic attacks, and he will be exposed to other magical children.

Once Wyatt has started attending, we can get him to trust us, so he won't put his shield up around us anymore. Then, we will make our move."

Sophie wondered if her own knowledge (now confirmed, as if she had needed it to be) was tainting her view of the Elder. Did his voice really have a note of insanity in it, or was she merely imagining it, recalling the Angel of Destiny's claims that Gideon had gone mad after narrowly escaping the Slaughter of the Heavens by the Titans?

"Sir," Sigmund said slowly, shifting from foot to foot as he played with his hem. There was a deep frown on his face as he spoke. "Are you absolutely sure that this is necessary? The boy is only a young infant at the moment after all, and when you brought the matter before the Council, they were unconcerned about the boy's allegiance."

Gideon shot his assistant an irritated look that he quickly disguised with a look of paternal fondness. "I know that this is difficult, Sigmund," he told the man sympathetically, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't think that making this decision doesn't weigh on me also. But I have seen the future, a future in ruins, where Good is nought but a distant memory, and Evil reigns supreme! All at the hands of Wyatt Halliwell. He is simply too powerful, it is impossible for such a young child to resist the temptations.

After all, he was not even seven months old when he summoned a dragon to terrorize the innocents of San Francisco, was he not?"

"I suppose you're right, Sir," Sigmund sighed, shoulders slumping.

Sophie rolled her eyes in disgusted contempt at the man's lack of backbone and his gullibility. She dimly remembered him from her own time. He'd been useless then as well. As she recalled, he had floated around the School in a state of permanent anxiety up until he was killed. Said death had occurred shortly after the Invasion of Magic School.

Unlike most teachers, he had tried to flee instead of trying to defend the students there, but he had still been the sole staff member to be killed by Wyatt personally. After being caught by Wyatt's troops, he'd been violently tortured for several weeks before gaining the dubious honour of becoming the first non-governmental person to be executed by the self-proclaimed 'Emperor'. It was pretty much the only reason that she remembered him at all.

Sophie had never understood why, but now she supposed that her brother was gaining his revenge for whatever had happened when he was kidnapped.

She had assumed, on the rare occasions that she thought about Sigmund, that his constant stress and fumbling nature around the Halliwells was simply due to his awe of the legendary lineage. Now, knowing that he was involved in the plot against her brother, she wondered if he had been living his life in fear of them discovering what he had done, and seeking justice for Wyatt's trauma.

If so, she thought he deserved it. Living in constant fear was its' own form of torture, and anyone who claimed to be Good, whilst simultaneously conspiring to help commit infanticide certainly deserved to suffer.

"I don't understand why we can't just convince the Halliwells to bind his powers," Sigmund continued to fuss, distracting Sophie from her dark thoughts. "Then when he was old enough to resist temptation, he could gain them back. Why-"

"Because it's too risky!" Gideon snapped, voice raising a bit. Sigmund shrank back, looking shocked and a bit nervous at the sudden display of temper, causing Gideon to quickly regain his control and fatherly-look. He rested a hand on Sigmund's shoulder fondly.

"My friend, you must trust that I know best," he said firmly, with a warm, but stern smile. "I have long thought of what must be done, and this is the only option. If we simply bound the boy's powers, then he could still be kidnapped by something evil, and his binding removed whilst he was turned to evil. This is what must be. Trust me."

"I do," Sigmund mumbled.

"Good," Gideon gave a smile that Sophie personally thought looked rather threatening, and Sigmund was swiftly dismissed. As soon as he was gone, Gideon headed for the mirror and swept the curtain open again.

"Everything is going according to the plan," he told his Evil counterpart, who was the same but with slicked-back hair and a more sinister air.

"Indeed," Evil Gideon agreed. "But Sigmund has gained doubts. We may need to eliminate him soon if it continues."

"He will understand if that turns out to be the case," Gideon shrugged it off, cementing Sophie's belief that he was completely insane already. "It's all for the Greater Good."

"Indeed," Evil Gideon murmured. He moved a piece on their chessboard, destroying an opposing pawn. "Indeed."


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Halliwells plan.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/followed/faved this story.**

**Chapter Fifteen**

Unsurprisingly, Piper spent most of the hunt for the Headless Horseman and his summoner occupied with thoughts of her children. Gideon was obviously trying to ingratiate himself with her family, but she wouldn't trust him as far as she could throw him.

Her life was a complete mess. Her ex-husband's mentor was planning to murder her son (and possibly her daughter, Sophie had been born premature due to the attack, after all), and said unborn daughter currently hated her. Or at least, severely disliked and resented her.

Briskly getting Wyatt changed for bed, she flashed back to what Prue had told her right before she, Patty and Penny had returned to the afterlife.

" _Sophie's angry because she sees your death as you abandoning her," Prue explained to her younger sister, who looked stung by the accusation._

" _I would never willingly leave my children!" Piper cried in outraged protest. "I love them both more than anything else, dying isn't something I would choose to do! Ever!"_

" _I know," Prue agreed. "But every child looks at their parents through a pair of rose-coloured glasses, and Sophie probably spent her entire childhood watching you and the others vanquish every demon that looked at you wrong. Not to mention growing up hearing about Melinda's prophecy. She probably never even considered the thought of you losing a battle._

_I don't think it's conscious, I'd be shocked if she even realizes it, but a subconscious part of her considers you dying as you abandoning her._

_And I doubt that you not recognizing her as your daughter when she first arrived helped her anger either. It made it easier for her plan, but it definitely nursed that feeling of abandonment." Prue gave her sister a sympathetic look and took hold of her hands._

" _She had you on a pedestal, like everyone does with their parents, and when you died you became this perfect, flawless person. And then she came back, and discovered that you aren't perfect, you're a person. And it upset her because it stole that last part of her innocence from her."_

Piper sighed and stared sadly at her son. "What am I going to do?" she whispered. Wyatt was only eleven months old, but he was at risk of growing up to become the most dangerous person in the universe. And Sophie.

Piper huffed a bitter laugh, realizing that once again her thoughts had wandered in a circle. Right back to Sophie and how she could get her agree to let Piper make up for everything to her. Including for Future Piper's death.

"Piper," Paige whispered, sticking her head around the door to the nursery. "We're having a meeting in the attic. Sophie said that she found something in Gideon's office at the school."

"Okay," the elder sister replied in a low tone. "I'll be up in a second. Just give me a moment to kiss Wyatt goodnight."

Paige gave her a sympathetic smile as she nodded before scurrying away quietly.

"I love you, darling," Piper whispered as she looked down at her son. "I'm going to protect you, I promise."

She then turned and hurried upstairs to do just that.

In the attic, she was unsurprised to find herself as the last person to arrive: Phoebe and Paige were sitting together on Aunt Pearl's couch, whispering softly to each other. Leo was leaning against the potion shelf, a troubled frown on his face as he stared at Sophie, who stood in front of the Book of Shadows with both it and a battered looking notebook open. It looked like she was copying something from the Book into her notebook.

When Piper entered the room, she stopped and shut both of the books firmly.

"Good, everyone's here," she said with a crisp nod. "Now that we've confirmed Gideon is our enemy, we need to make a plan and shut him down. Preferably before the Balance is put at risk."

"What evidence did you find against him?"

"What do you suggest?"

"Why would the Balance be put at risk?"

Piper shot an irritated look at her ex-husband after hearing his question. Yes, she understood that Gideon had been a good friend to him for longer than he'd known their family, but he wasn't helping their case with Sophie by continuously doubting her conclusions and knowledge. Especially given the fact that his relationship with their daughter was in even worse shape than hers was.

Then she registered her sisters' question, and felt her frown deepen. It was a good after all, why would the Balance be at risk. The timeline, yes, Piper could see how it could in danger very easily. But no one had mentioned the Balance being at risk up until now.

Sophie sighed, flipping her hair irritably as she did so. Piper wondered, suddenly, if she was in the habit of having to explain things to people, or if her soldiers in the Resistance simply did what she told them to, no questions asked. That would probably explain some things. A lot of things, actually.

"Well, I can answer two of those questions together, I guess," she sighed before going on to explain what she had seen at Magic School, the conversation briefly veering off course when she came to the mirror part.

"What do you mean, a portal to The Parallel World?" Paige interrupted, looking bemused. "Isn't the whole theory of alternate realities how there's, like, millions of them? Why is this particular one so special?"

"Because," Sophie answered, a look of tiredness in the eyes she'd inherited from Prue and Allen. "This one is The Parallel World. Everything in it is just like ours, events, people, everything.  _Except_  for one key fact. Everyone in that world has their allegiance flipped. All of us are good here, but our counterparts in that reality are evil."

"Sophie's right," Leo inserted, a look of resigned acceptance in his eyes. He had gained it the moment Sophie had mentioned the mirror, finally able, or maybe willing was a better word, to believe that his oldest friend was trying to kill his son. "It's a way to keep the Grand Design intact."

"Well that's a pretty flawed Design, now isn't it?" Paige scoffed.

"So there's another version of us out there, having this exact conversation but in an evil way, right now?" Phoebe confirmed at the same time. "That's so creepy."

"It's not flawed, Paige," Leo corrected the Witchlighter. "It's very important, actually. Without balance, dark and light, yin and yang, good and evil, the universe would collapse.

But interacting with The Evil World is strictly forbidden. Doing so is supposed to cause your own allegiance to subtly shift over to its' opposite as you become more and more influenced by your counterpart. They are, after all, still the same person as you, just evil. They think in basically the same way, so you don't even realize that you're turning into the sort of person you oppose.

And the consequences, if they work together to deliberately cause an unnatural difference in the universes, could be catastrophic."

"That's an understatement," Sophie snorted. "I had a vision of what would happen in that scenario. The world was completely good. It was awful."

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked, all three of the sisters equally confused by the statement.

"Yeah," Paige agreed. "Wouldn't a world without evil be a really good thing?"

"Not when people double parking results in them being shot for a traffic violation," Sophie replied dryly. "Or having their limbs cut off for having their cell phones on in the hospital ward."

"Oh," was Paige's weak answer. "Yeah, that's, uh, that would definitely be bad for the world."

"So, we have to make sure that won't happen," Piper finally spoke. "What else happened, Sophie?"

The youngest Halliwell witch continued, a deep frown on her face as she spoke about Sigmund's part in the plot, offhandedly mentioning what he'd been like in her own timeline before continuing with her explanation.

"So, now what?" Paige asked after several minutes of silence while the present members of the family processed her story. "Should we just go to the Elders with our evidence?"

"That's not going to work," both Sophie and Leo said immediately. They glanced at each other quickly. Leo had a pleading look on his face, but Sophie herself showed no signs of being willing to relent.

"We don't have enough," Piper agreed with them, speaking before the silence could become awkward. "All of this just hearsay for the moment. We need something more to prove that he's planning infanticide and breaking the law by contacting The Evil World. Maybe if we stole the mirror to prove he's using it?"

"No, that won't work either," Sophie shook her head, crossing her arms as she did so. "If we remove it from Gideon's office, then it could be constructed as us trying to frame him for using it. They could even accuse us of being the ones to contact the other world.

No, what we need to do is catch him in the act, with at least three unconnected witnesses, to confirm our words. Memories can be faked by a skilled enough telepath, after all, so we need as many impartial witnesses as possible."

"You're right," Leo agreed. "That's our best chance. They'll only believe it if they see it with their own eyes. I could talk to a few Elders that I trust and-"

"Well, you haven't exactly shown the best judgement when it comes to trusting people lately, now have you?" Sophie's tone was biting, and her expression was condemning as she looked coldly at him. "For all we know, this is a conspiracy with Goddess knows how many Elders involved. I was wrong before, we don't just need to catch him in the act."

She inhaled deeply before releasing the air in a heavy whoosh. For once, Piper could see the very real anxiety in Sophie's expression as she continued. Their eyes locked, brown on green, as Sophie spoke.

"We need to bring this to the Tribunal."

* * *

_**The Tribunal is a neutral council that governs the secrecy of magic. It consists of two ancient Elders: Adair and Aramis, and two Upper-Level demons: Thrask and Crill.** _

_**They are granted immunity from any and all attacks, and their word is law when it comes to magic's secrecy. They have the ability to strip powers, or kill anyone who violates the secrecy of our world.** _

_**The beings known as the Cleaners answer to them.** _

_**They use a device called the Circle of Truth, which is an enchanted circle that reads thoughts and shows what needs to be seen, however painful, difficult or sad it may be to be judged by the Tribunal.** _

_**To meet with the Tribunal, have your Whitelighter take you to the Chamber of Judgment, and call out these words to summon them:** _ _**Di! Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit!** _

_**Cross them at your own risk.** _

"Well, that looks like fun," Phoebe grimaced after Paige finished reading out the page on the Tribunal from the book Sophie had shown to them.

"We won't do it tonight," Piper decided reluctantly. "We should wait a few days. That way we'll have our ducks in a row."

"Okay," the others agreed.

"I'm exhausted," Paige declared. "Goodnight, I love you guys."

She leaned over to hug her sisters tightly. They had been more touchy-feely over the past few days. The knowledge of their early deaths had shaken them all a lot, and so they had closed their ranks. And they had made a solemn oath never to separate when they were angry or upset with each other, or without telling each other that they loved the other.

Phoebe followed her a minute later, and then Sophie quickly orbed away when her parents turned to her with wide, pleading eyes.

Piper bit her lip, feeling her eyes well up with tears.

"Oh, Piper," Leo murmured, taking her into his arms.

She wasn't really surprised when they ended up in bed together, and she lay awake with her head lying on his chest. She cradled her stomach carefully, utterly certain that she and Leo had just created their daughter.

' _I'm going to be better this time, Peanut,'_ she thought to the child forming in her stomach. _'I swear to you, I'm never going to abandon you. Not this time, not in any way.'_


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie finally achieves a bit of peace inside herself.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. I think only one more chapter and an epilogue after this. They'll be up in the next few days. Enjoy and thanks for all your support!**

**Chapter Sixteen**

When Piper woke up, she was full of her usual fierce determination. The despair that had been gnawing at her for the past few days since watching Sophie's memories was gone. No longer was she lost in her uncharacteristic depression made up of her guilty grief and helplessness.

She clambered out of bed, unsurprised but also undeterred by Leo's absence from the bed. She hurried around getting herself showered and dressed, before heading for Wyatt's nursery to tend to him. She paused in her determined rush when she stalked in. Leo was leaning over their son, a sad smile on his face as he pulled Wyatt's small arms into his blue jumper. The baby was already wearing a pair of tiny denim jeans and white socks with dinosaurs on them.

"Leo, you're still here," she stated, accidentally letting her shock leak slightly into her tone.

He gave her a pained look at the blatant shock she showed at the sight of him in their son's nursery, instead of off attending to Elder business.

"Yeah, I am," he acknowledged, picking up Wyatt and balancing him on his left hip. The baby stuck his thumb in his mouth, watching his parents silently. "And I plan on staying here."

"W, what do you mean?" she whispered softly. A spark of hope began to well up in her breast, despite her best attempts to suppress it.

"Exactly that," he answered. "After we've dealt with Gideon, I'm going to go to the other Elders, and tell them that I'm going to clip my wings."

She pressed a hand to her mouth in disbelieving hope. "Are you serious?" she asked shakily. He nodded, walking forward and grabbing her hand.

"Sophie has shown me the life that I'm going to have if I keep going down the road I'm on," he told her seriously. "And it's not a life I want. I don't want to become the sort of man who makes his child feel unimportant, or be the reason she cries herself sick on her birthday. I don't want the woman I love to look at me like she's disgusted by my actions, or our daughter to hate me."

He paused, inhaling and exhaling heavily. "I made a mistake Piper," he admitted. "I made a major decision without considering the consequences of it, or speaking to you about it. And then, when I didn't like how it turned out, I lashed out and blamed an innocent for it. I threw myself into trying to prove that Sophie had an agenda, because I didn't want to admit that I was the one who ruined our marriage." He paused and swallowed. On his hip, Wyatt sucked his thumb and looked between his parents in wide-eyed silence.

"I'm sorry Piper," he said. "I'm sorry that I left, and I'm that I tried to pretend it wasn't my decision. I'm sorry that I influenced you and your sisters against our daughter, and I'm sorry that there was a version of me who was so self-centred and cold that he didn't even meet his child until she was almost a year old.

But I swear to you Piper," he continued, his tone going firm. "I'm not going to pull that type of bullshit anymore."

Her eyes widened in surprise at his swear, while Leo carried on with his speech.

"I'm going to leave the Elders and the Whitelighters, and I'm going to work hard to be there, and to be a father that Wyatt and Sophie can be proud of. I'm going to work hard to be a man you can be proud of, too. For you to be able to forgive me."

She reached out silently, accepting Wyatt from him and pulling the baby close. "And what if I can't forgive you?" she asked softly, not looking up from her son's golden curls. "What if it was just too much to be forgiven for?"

"Then I'll still stick around," he replied hoarsely. When she peeked up through her eyelashes, she saw his eyes were shimmering with tears. "Whether we're together or not, I will always be there for the kids, and I'll always love you. I'll always be there to support you. I promise Piper."

"I want to believe you," she said. "I really do, but I don't know if I can. I don't trust you anymore, Leo. You really hurt me. All those years of fighting for the right to be with each other, I mean Leo, you were the one who never thought of giving up, the one who suggested that we try for a baby. And then, you just left. I just don't know if I can bring myself to let you in again. And I don't know if I can trust you not to break our kids' hearts, either. I just don't know."

"I understand," he murmured. Tears were trickling from his eyes as he leaned in to touch her forehead with his own. "I'm sorry Piper," he told her with a pained expression on his face. "I really am. I should never have left."

Her tears spilled over at that. She had tried not to blame him for leaving. She had told herself that it was Destiny, Sophie, the Elders who had taken her husband and the father of her children from her family. But, in the end, the facts didn't change. Leo was the one to make the final decision not to fight for their family. They had been fighting for months before the Titans attacked, and Leo was the one who chose to leave.

Wyatt reached up to pat her cheeks in a clumsy attempt at giving her comfort, while Leo pulled her into a hug. He whispered apologies and comforting promises into her hair as she cried softly in his arms.

* * *

Her newly revealed destiny hovered constantly at the back of Sophie's thoughts, even as she bent over all the information on the Tribunal she had been able to gather. It refused to leave her mind, and she couldn't stop dwelling on the shocking information given to her by the Angel of Destiny.

Everything else was fine for her to cope with. The possibility that her younger counterpart would have to perform the same actions as her, to avoid a paradox occurring, had already been brought up during her preparations for time travelling. It was a price that Sophie was willing to pay, saving everyone except for herself from the horrors of her world. It was a much better choice than the grim alternative.

That she had been steered towards the skills she needed to survive Wyatt's take over was extraneous information, and so she had put it aside. After all, it was just a nudge towards skills she was good at anyway, and it had probably kept the Resistance alive. If Sophie hadn't become so fascinated by wards when she was seven... If Paige and Headmaster Knox hadn't indulged her and given her access to books far above her age-level... Sophie decided not to think about that particular parallel world.

But  _ **Excalibur**_. Sophie gave up her attempt at studying the Tribunal as a bad job and buried her head in her hands to think instead.

' _Queen Arthur'_  she thought scornfully. The fact that she had been a man in her past life wasn't actually that surprising. After all, to evolve and grow, spirits needed to see many different perspectives, so it made since that they changed genders in various lives. But the Once and Future King of all people. The Angels couldn't possibly have made a worse choice. She went back over the conversation with the Angel again.

" _Your brother is not the reincarnation of King Arthur, but of his closest advisor," the Angel explained to the stunned witch. "Even to the mortals, Merlin is known as the most powerful wizard of all time. But, like his new self, Wyatt Halliwell, he would never have been capable of being a good ruler. Merlin's heart was too soft, too gentle, to be a good king. And, as you yourself saw, he is only ever on one side or another. When one of Merlin's incarnations are good, they are incapable of cruelty. But when they turn to evil, they tear the world apart and leave it smoking in their wake._

_Arthur was harder, and more practical than his friend. He understood that there were times when you had to do bad things to keep the Balance tilted towards Good. As you do. You have the ability to be as great a ruler as you were in your first life. You are already an excellent general, and your people had faith in you to save them, and the world, because of it. But you will only truly succeed at your destiny if you can learn to stop holding grudges, and to accept help when you need it." The Angel let out a short chuckle at the indignant look that crossed the young woman's face at that._

" _You cannot deny you hold grudges, Sophia," she pointed chidingly, wearing a gentle smile. "It has always been your flaw, in every life. And you have always been forced to overcome that flaw so that you might become the ruler you are destined to be."_

"Well that's all very good," Sophie muttered sullenly to herself. "But what if I don't want to be the goddessdamned queen of the magical world? What about that, huh?"

Of course, Sophie's wants had never been high on anyone save her mother and grandfather's list of priorities, so she would be seriously shocked if the Guardians of Fate cared about them either.

But  _her,_  the queen of the magical world. It was horrifyingly possible, though surreal, and she was infuriated to realize the thought of it made her feel like a frightened little girl. Sophie was no stranger to being a leader, but it wasn't something that she was fond of. She had been looking forward to a new life without the pressures of leadership weighing on her shoulders.

"Sophie," Piper called from the attic doorway, making the stressed out possible-queen's head snap up and around, cracking loudly in the process. "Ow, I hate when that happens," Piper sympathized with a hesitant smile as she walked into the room, Leo following quietly after her.

"I'm fine," Sophie replied curtly, going back to her book. She frowned and glanced up again. "Where's Wyatt?"

"He's downstairs with Paige and Phoebe," Leo answered. Sophie relaxed, nodding and looking away again. The two parents exchanged quick looks, nodding to fortify themselves for the conversation ahead of them.

"Sophie," Piper said firmly to draw her daughter's attention. "We need to talk. No more putting this off."

"What's there to talk about, Piper?" Sophie asked coolly.

"You're angry with us," she answered. "And we want to apologize."

Sophie faltered in the middle of opening her mouth to sling a sharp retort at her young mother. "Apologize?" she repeated dumbly. Piper Halliwell didn't apologize. And Leo certainly didn't.

"Yes," he spoke up. He looked at her with a solemn gaze, heavy with knowledge. "We failed you, Sophie. In your timeline, and in ours. The only thing that we can do is apologize, and promise that we'll do better this time."

He felt silent again, and they both looked at her expectantly, waiting for her reply. Sophie was quiet for several minutes, emotions warring for dominance inside her breast.

"You're  _sorry_ ," she finally said, in a flat tone. "You failed me, and the world in a million different worlds. Billions died because of it. But you'll do  _better_  this time. Are you fucking kidding me?"

They opened their mouths, but she didn't give them a chance to say anything, barrelling on furiously.

"My whole damn life was ruined because of you two being too caught up in yourselves and your  _ **normal**_ ," she spat the word like it was a curse word. "Lives! But hey, everything's alright now, cause you're gonna do _better_  this time! Doing better isn't going to change the memories in my head! Why the fuck should I forgive either of you for abandoning me to try and stop the apocalypse by myself?

_I_  had to take care of Rose,  _I_  had to raise an army as a fucking teenager! I had to fight my own goddessdamned  _brother_ to the brink of death goddess knows how many times! And it never would've happened if you hadn't  _left me_! It was all _your fault_! Ihate you, I  _hate_  you,  _Ihateyou_!"

She was dismayed to realize, as she sucked in desperate breaths, that tears were streaming down her face and she had somehow ended up on her knees, pounding the floor with the side of her hands like some sort of madwoman.

Her parents kneeled down next to her, Piper wrapping an arm around her and pulling her head into the crook of her mother's neck, despite Sophie's resistance.

She wasn't sure how long it lasted, but when she finally pulled away from her mother, Piper's neck and the top of her sleeve were wet from the years of tears that Sophie had held in. Somehow, she felt lighter. Maybe there was something to that old claim of tears releasing pain after all.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tribunal is called.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. The epilogue, Sophie's return to her own time, will be posted tomorrow. Enjoy, and thanks to everyone who's read/faved/followed/kudos/etc this story.**

**Chapter Seventeen**

Sophie looked around her warehouse furtively, despite knowing that her wards were far too good to be breached by anyone. Especially in this time that was full of soft witches and demons alike. Harsh as it may sound, it was the truth. The people and demons of this time were weak compared to the war-hardened people of her future. The people that would, if all went well today, no longer exist. At least not in the form that she knew them.

She walked over to the large boulder she had orbed into the warehouse, and stared silently at the silver hilt sticking out of it.

Bringing Excalibur with her to the Tribunal would grant her words a greater authority, as both Good and Evil owed the Heir to Excalibur a certain amount of allegiance. But she was still reluctant to take it. It felt as if by doing so she would be accepting a destiny that was far too much for her slim shoulders. A wry smile played on her lips as she considered that.

Wasn't that the same way that she had felt when the rag-tag group of magicals and mortals that had been the first members of the Resistance had first started turning to her to save them in her time?

She heaved a heavy sigh, before reaching out to grab the hilt and pull the King Maker free of the stone it was buried in. A golden halo surrounded her, a wind blowing up around her to make her hair float and a song she dimly remembered humming a lot as a child playing in her head. She let out a shaky breath, trying to remember if anything had happened when Wyatt had removed the sword to avenge their mother. As far as she could remember, nothing had.

" _Sophie!"_ She heard her mother call for her. _"We're ready to go!"_

Giving a quick glance, Sophie spotted a sheath, the perfect size to hold Excalibur, resting innocently on the table. She scowled, well aware that the Angels must have left it for her and reluctant to use such a thing. Gifts from magical beings tended to come with a price, and then she quickly grabbed it. Once it was dangling securely from her belt, she orbed away.

* * *

" _Di!"_ Leo cried, summoning the Tribunal under his authority as an Elder.  _"Ecce hora! Uxor mea me necabit!"_

"Who calls the Tribunal?" A deafening voice demanded.

"I, Leo Wyatt, an Elder Representative of the Warren Line," he answered submissively. "The Halliwells have discovered proof that the Elder Gideon is contacting The Evil World, and is plotting the death of their firstborn, the Twice-Blessed Child, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell."

"These are grave charges, Elder Wyatt," Aramis said. "We will summon Gideon, and a Representative to defend him against these accusations."

"We thank you, Noble members of the Tribunal." Leo bowed deeply, before heading back to the table where the four women waited, Wyatt clutched in Piper's arms.

"Who do you think it'll be?" Paige asked in a low voice, thankful that they'd already learned that one of their enemies would be called to speak against them during the trial. Piper shrugged and Phoebe grimaced, all of their eyes fixed on the opposite table.

Gideon had arrived, and was being informed of the charges against him. If any of the family had had any doubts about his guilt, they were erased by the sight of his expression.

Then, a pillar of fire appeared. It died down, and the sisters stood sharply, outraged at the sight of the demon in front of them.

"Barbas!" Phoebe hissed. "What the hell is he doing here?"

The Demon of Fear smiled smugly and gave a turn, holding out the lapels of his coat as he did so. "You missed me?" his tone of full of glee. The sisters glared viciously at him.

"Didn't we vanquish you already?" Paige spat bitterly at him. "Twice?"

Piper moved so she was shielding Wyatt with her body, glancing anxiously at Sophie, who was standing pale but determined beside their table.

"To the fires of hell," Barbas acknowledged cheerfully. "I've been granted a temporary leave of absence in order to act as your opposing counsel."

"We liked his pitch," Crill smirked.

"Pitch?" Leo scoffed. "What pitch?"

Thrask glared at him. "We have the right to choose anybody we wish."

"With all due respect, Your Honours," Gideon piped up. "I would prefer to represent myself against these unjust accusations."

"Too bad," Crill replied curtly.

"Now," Aramis added. "Let us begin. As the Halliwells brought forth the accusations, they may begin the prosecution."

Sophie stood up and walked forward, chin raised defiantly. "Your Honours," she began carefully. "I am Sophia Halliwell, and I come from the year 2027.

In my time, the Grand Design has been damaged irreparably, Good is in ruins, and Evil reigns supreme, over all things mortal and magical itself. Worst of all, Magic has been exposed, with both yourselves and the Cleaners extinct. All of this is the result of this man's actions." She pointed at Gideon, who looked like he had just swallowed a sour lemon.

"He, in his arrogance, broke the laws laid down millennia ago, and contact his Evil Counterpart. And the entire world paid the price for his defiance of you and your laws."

The Tribunal all gained looks of indignation at the mention of being defied. Exactly as Sophie had intended when she chose her words.

"Gotta hand it to her," Paige whispered to her sisters and brother-in-law. "She definitely knows how to play an audience."

"Shh," Piper hissed back, shifting her squirming son.

"I will now provide proof of Gideon's contact with The Evil World, and his plot to kill the Twice-Blessed Child, risking the prevention of an ancient prophecy," Sophie continued.

She knew, and had warned the others, that the Tribunal probably wouldn't be particularly concerned with infanticide. Especially not a failed infanticide. But defiance of their orders  _would_  be taken  _very_  seriously.

She waved her hand at the Circle of Truth, and conjured up the scene of Gideon plotting with his other self. Barbas swiftly stepped forward as soon as it ended.

"It is true that my client has made use of The Mirror Portal," he acknowledged. "But, that does  _not_  prove the prosecution's claims that his attack was the cause of their son's turn to evil. And, he had great reason to fear the destruction that the Twice-Blessed could wrought upon the world. Exhibit A:"

He waved carelessly at the Circle, and it began to show several of Sophie's memories of Wyatt's reign. Including, to her dismay, Wyatt vanquishing the Tribunal. They all looked panicked and outraged by the scene.

On and on they went, Sophie and Leo trading off showing her memories of how Wyatt had been affected by his kidnapping and Gideon's own memories of his slow descent into insanity the longer he had owned and used the Mirror.

Finally, there were no memories left to use.

"Enough!" Adair bellowed at last. "We go now to deliberate. And we will bring back our verdict, which will be final. Either Gideon the Elder, or the Twice-Blessed Child will die today."

"What?" Phoebe gasped.

"No, you can't-" Piper began to object.

"No, that's not-" Leo's voice was filled with panic and terror for his son.

"No, you can't do this!" Paige insisted.

"I request a mitigation!" Sophie shrieked, scrambling to save her brother's life.

"Oh?" Thrask sneered, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Instead of killing an innocent child, who will grow to be the most powerful witch of all time, regardless of his chosen allegiance," she hoped that her speech would both make the Elders hesitate at the thought of killing an innocent, while also letting the greed in the demon members taint their decisions, implying he might still go evil and give their side a power boost. "Bind his powers if necessary, until he is old enough to be able to decide his own path. Just don't kill him, after all, he  _is_  prophesized."

Sophie had found that even the Tribunal were wary of messing with prophecies, messages from the Angels of Destiny, the most powerful beings there were. Carrot and stick.  _'Please let it be enough,'_ sheplead mentally.  _'Please.'_

The Tribunal exchanged considering glances, before fading away without a word.

"Oh, God, they can't kill him," Piper moaned in fear. "Let them strip his powers if that's what it takes, just don't let him die."

"We're not going to let them hurt him," Paige tried to sooth her distraught sister.

Sophie bit her lip, thumbing the sword hilt (that she had turned invisible to avoid any awkward questions about) and contemplating her back up plan. It wasn't one she was very fond of, but she also knew that the reason the Tribunal hadn't been able to erase her brother was because of his (believed) status of Ruler of the Magical World. If she revealed her own claim to the throne, she too would gain that immunity to the Tribunal's decisions.

After all, the Tribunal itself was the result of King Arthur choosing a group of beings to govern the magical world when he was absent. They owed their allegiance to him, and to his heir. In this case, Sophie. All she had to do was show off the sword.

The Tribunal returned, stony looks on their faces. "We have decided," Aramis boomed, before Thrask took over as the group's spokesman.

"First, as reward for his representation of the Elder Gideon, Barbas is now restored to life," he announced.

"Yes!" Barbas pumped the air with his fist. "I'm back, Baby! Yeah! Thank you, Your Honours," he grinned smugly, before swiftly shimmering away.

"What?" The sisters were protesting at the same time.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Paige groaned. "We have to vanquish him  _again_? Are you kidding me? This sucks."

"Shh," Sophie hissed at them as the Tribunal cast them disapproving looks for their outbursts.

"And now," Crill continued. "For the primary focus of the day."

The sisters fell silent, Piper and Leo gripping hands, while Phoebe rested a hand on Piper's shoulder and Paige stood beside her niece, casting her a look of solidarity and encouragement. Sophie nodded back at her youngest aunt, face stoic and a grim light in her eyes.

"We have decided that, due to the threat of an uncomprehending young child holding so much power, but as he is also the subject of an important prophecy, Wyatt Matthew Halliwell's active powers will be bound until his eighteenth birthday.

During the intervening years, his parents and aunts must strive to ensure that he understands the vitality of keeping magic secret. If he ever exposes magic again, however, he will be erased. Gideon, for the crime of contacting the Evil World and risking damage to the Grand Design, will be recycled. Is that understood?"

The Halliwells sagged in relief, agreeing to the terms, while mentally coming up with ways to protect Wyatt without his shield to help and to avoid a worst-case scenario if necessary.

"No!" Gideon cried at the same, rising to his feet and pounding the table with his fist. His eyes were wild. "Wyatt is a threat to all of the world, why doesn't anyone else understand that? I will end this threat right here and now!"

He raised his hands and a jet of lethal blue lightning came flying out of it. None of the present Halliwells were fast enough to react, but Sophie was.

She wrenched Excalibur free of its' sheath, and used it to block the lightning, the movements learned a literal lifetime ago and coming to her instinctively. She deflected the electricity, ignoring Gideon's cries of denial, and sent it back at him. Her expression was cold as she lifted the blade, sending the lightning arcing into his violently jerking body. It seemed to last a lifetime, but was in reality only a few moments, before he burst into flames, the ashes floating to the ground harmlessly. Her chest heaved as she lowered her sword with shaking hands.

"Why do you have-?" Paige finally began to ask, before she was interrupted by Aramis.

"Hail, Sophia Prudence Halliwell," he said curtly, the Halliwells' eyes going as large as plates at his words. "Reincarnation of Arthur, King of Magic. Hail the Queen."

* * *

"Are you ready to go?" Piper asked softly the next day after the family had all gathered in the Manor attic. The Elders who would be sending her back to 2027, Sandra, Odin, Kevin, Kheel and Jonnah, were waiting in a respectful silence at the back of the room, beside the boulder where Excalibur was buried up to its' hilt.

"Yes," Sophie nodded. She was going back with nothing save for the clothes she was wearing. All her possessions had been packed into her warehouse, its' wards firmly reinforced to ensure that nothing would damage its' contents. No mortals would destroy it, or even consciously realize that it was there in the first place.

Phoebe stepped forward and pulled her niece into a firm hug. "I'm really gonna miss you," she told her softly.

"I'll miss you too," Sophie replied softly. Now that the future was safe, she seemed to have lost most of the tension and anger that had been ever-present before. She pulled back and turned to Paige.

"Aw," Paige sighed teasingly. "Here comes the huggin' part." She leaned in and gave her niece a tight hug before they separated and Sophie turned and hugged her mother.

"Thank you for coming here," Piper whispered. "I love you."

"I love you so much, mom," Sophie answered in a ragged voice. Piper felt her breath hitch at the words. The first time Sophie had called her mom, and said she loved her.

She pulled away, sniffling slightly and resting a hand on her stomach protectively. "Now go on. Hurry. You be safe."

Sophie turned to her father next, a wary expression on her face as she met his eyes. He stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I love you Sophie," he whispered into her ear. "I really do. I promise that I'll do a better job as your father this time around."

She gave a curt nod, pulling away and giving a slight wave to the baby sitting quietly in the playpen. "Be good, Bro," she muttered before turning to the Elders. "I'm ready," she told them, straightening her shoulders.

They nodded, and aimed their hands at the attic wall. The chalk triquetra they had drawn on it began to glow in a mixture of white and blue, similar to orbs, and swirled invitingly.

Sophie inhaled and exhaled, gathering her courage and praying silent that she would be greeted by a similar sight to the one she was leaving, instead of the one she had seen the last time she returned to her own time. Then she walked forward, into an uncertain fate.


	18. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie arrives home.

 

 

 

**Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. Thanks everyone for all your wonderful support. This story would have been left as an unfinished oneshot without your lovely reviews and follows/favs/kudos/etc. I hope the ending lives up to your hopes and expectations.**

**Epilogue**

Her time spent in the swirling vortex tunnel of blue and white seemed to last for an eternity, yet also seemed to be over in a blink. But when she stepped out, a weight fell off her shoulders and she knew that she had succeeded.

For one thing, her parents and aunts were standing in various places around the subtly different attic, Leo with an arm around Piper's waist and grey dotting all their hair, lines on their faces. For another, Niko was there. He wore a pair of faded denim jeans, his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket, and gave her the cocky and smug, but gentle, smile that she had fallen in love with in her timeline. His whiskey eyes glinted with remembered horrors, unseen in this world.

Niko, Sophie realized lightning quick, would have also needed to travel back, to maintain the integrity of the timeline. He too remembered their first life together, and she felt a selfish relief that she wasn't alone. She wasn't the only veteran of a war that had never happened. That Niko was the one to remember was the icing on the cake.

Finally, standing behind their parents and staring directly at her, looking more uncertain than she had ever seen him, was Wyatt.

She only just had time to take him in, short hair, green t-shirt and blue jeans, before she fell to her knees, clutching her head as her memories from the new timeline suddenly began pouring into her head.

* * *

_In the original timeline, Sophie's earliest memory was of being attacked by an upper-level demon while playing on the carpet of the living room. She screamed in terror, covering her face with her arms and unintentionally sending the lethal energy ball back at him as Piper came running in with her hands raised. When she was finished destroying the demon, she pulled Sophie to her, both of them pale from the close-call as Piper cooed lovingly to her daughter._

_In the new timeline, everything was almost exactly the same, but Leo also came running in beside Piper. He picked her up and hugged her, soothing her gently while Piper blew up the demon._

* * *

_In the original timeline, Sophie despised Magic School with a passion for all of the five months that she attended. The other students, jealous of her lineage and her natural ability at every subject, be it magic or mortal, bullied her fiercely. Usually, Wyatt led the way, laughing maliciously at his younger sister's eyes shimmering with unshed tears._

_It finally came to a head when she lost control of her powers and put four bullies in the infirmary. Piper withdrew her from the School, and put her in Knox Academy under the name of Bennet, and Sophie swiftly blossomed there, making lifelong friendships that would become closer to her than her own blood in future years._

_In the new timeline, she never attended Magic School. Piper and Leo, knowing that their magical child couldn't go to mortal school like her bound brother, but wary of her getting treated differently at her aunt's school, where she was well known, sent her straight to Knox. There, she still made friendships with the same group that would eventually become her coven. The Bennet siblings, Archer, Declan, Ethan and Sarah, Sienna Beckham and Kate Cunningham._

* * *

_In the original timeline, Leo rarely remembered that he_ _**had** _ _a daughter, let alone spent time with her. She became Mommy's Baby Girl in the midst of crying over her father's broken promises and baking peanut butter cookies for tea parties._

_In this timeline, Sophie was the doted on youngest child by both of her parents. She still baked peanut butter cookies for tea parties, but now she was also Daddy's Little Princess, as well as Mommy's Baby Girl._

_And unlike in the original timeline, she wasn't bullied fiercely by her brother, despite him having many more reasons to be jealous of her in this timeline. Instead, Wyatt took the duty of 'big brother protector' with great seriousness. His worst bout of trouble in the new timeline was caused by him pushing down a mortal boy who made Sophie cry in the local playground._

* * *

_In Sophie's first timeline, her birthday was forever overshadowed, first by Wyatt's kidnapping that continued to affect him years later, then later by 'The Event'. Her father rarely showed up, unless called by Wyatt on Piper's orders, and Sophie generally ended up spending the day in tears of disappointment. Eventually, Piper started hosting parties the next day, and Wyatt would be sent to stay with an aunt so he didn't ruin the day while she and Victor fawned over the girl._

_Later on, after the Event happened, Sophie hated her birthdays, and refused to acknowledge them, save for working harder, so as to exhaust herself enough to forget her mother's eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling while Sophie sobbed hysterically over Piper's body._

_In her second timeline, Sophie's birthdays were always a big event. Everyone in the family, as well as anyone else that Sophie wanted to invite, came to the Manor for a party. A large, icing covered, cake was baked in her favourite flavour of the time, and she opened her presents after the guests had left, writing thank you cards and sending them to everyone the next day._

* * *

_In both timelines, Sophie was ten years old when the Bennets' and Sienna's parents were attacked by a pair of warlocks. In both timelines, Phoebe had a premonition of the attack. In the first timeline, Paige's loss of her orbing ability to the Titans caused them to arrive in time to vanquish the warlocks, but too late to save their friends._

_In the second timeline, however, things had a brighter ending. A mysterious message left for the families in 2004 had made the two families warier of attack, and so their regularly-strengthened wards held out longer against the warlocks' efforts to break in. Those wards, combined with Paige being able to orb herself and her sisters to the Bennet house as soon as Phoebe alerted the others to her vision, saved the parents from a firey death. It was Sophie's first experience with death._

_In one timeline, Sophie gained a faint set of scars on her wrist from where Sienna's nails left bloody dents in them at her parents' joint funeral. At the same moment in the other timeline, she was watching Tangled with Sarah, Sophie and Kate, while their mothers chatted in the Manor kitchen, relieved by their narrow escape. The burnt down house could be restored after all, but their children's innocence could never be._

* * *

_In both timelines, there was a three-pronged attack on the Charmed Ones on Sophie's fourteenth birthday._

_In the first timeline, it was successful beyond the demons' best expectations. Paige, caught by surprise while scolding her son for not cleaning up his room, was stunned when Henry Junior was abruptly stabbed in the back. She was so shocked and horrified by her loss, that she didn't even fight when she was surrounded and had a dozen Darklighter arrows shot at her. Henry Senior came back from collecting their daughters from ballet practice, and was greeted by the sight of his wife and son's dead bodies._

_At the same time, Phoebe was helping her youngest daughter Pamela get her coat on so that they could go to the park when a dozen demons abruptly shimmered in and attacked moments after her eldest daughter, Phaedra 'Fay' entered._

_Hampered by her need to protect her children, and her lack of active powers, Phoebe and her girls were quickly overwhelmed. Cole arrived back with their middle daughter Primrose from buying a new loaf of bread to find all three dead, the house in ruins and clear evidence that the middle Charmed One had fought to her last breath to defend her babies._

_Finally, Piper was decorating the Manor with Sophie for the party the next day when the largest group of demons, nearly thirty, shimmered in. She shoved her daughter under the table after they discovered a ward had been placed around the house to prevent anyone orbing out, ordering her to stay down and silent, before going to take on the onslaught of enemies._

_She lasted a long time, longer than both of her sisters, but she was fatally distracted by Sophie's scream of panic when a demon sent her flying into the wall. Piper jumped between her daughter and a newly-arrived Darklighter, the arrow going straight through her rib area. The demons shimmered out, laughing maliciously, while Sophie clutched desperately at her mother begging for her to live, to have her dormant healing power finally activate, and for Leo or Wyatt or Paige to come and help._

_When Leo finally did arrive, lost in his own grief, he flung accusations of blame at his catatonic daughter. Sophie was stricken, and Victor, who had arrived before anyone else, coldly told him to leave and never darken the Halliwells' doorstep again. That was the last time that they saw each other in that world._

_In the new world, however, the family was pre-prepared for an attack, and had never let themselves become over-confident, as they had in the original world. Paige pulled her son to her, out of harm's way, and orbed them both to Phoebe's house. She grabbed her sister and nieces, before getting them all to the Manor. There they found Piper and Sophie fighting off their attackers while Wyatt and Leo hid in the next room._

_With the combined fire-power of the Charmed Ones, and Sophie, Fay and Henry, the demonic horde was quickly beaten back, the survivors fleeing with their tails tucked between their legs._

* * *

_In her original life, Wyatt's eighteenth birthday wasn't a particularly significant day for Sophie. She aided in an attack on one of her brother's prisons, taking advantage of the fact that most of the guards were distracted by Wyatt's large-scale celebrations, and battled her brother for ten minutes before fleeing with the rescued prisoners and her fellow Resistance soldiers. A semi-standard day for her at that point in her grim life._

_In her second life, however, Wyatt's eighteenth birthday was the day he finally regained his powers. His first attempt to use them was so over-powered that the entirety of Paige's office, where they'd released his binding, was destroyed. The next few weeks, Sophie, her brother and her parents confined themselves to the School's guest quarters, where she and her parents taught Wyatt how to control the power in him._

" _It's like I was trapped in chains my whole life," Wyatt admitted to her in a moment of weakness. "And now, I'm finally free, but I don't know what to do with that freedom because I've never had it before."_

" _Well, just do what I do and you'll be fine," Sophie answered lightly, only half-joking. Her smile softened and she reached over to pat his arm gently. "You'll be fine, Wyatt," she insisted softly. "You've got us to help you, and you have a damn Good moral compass to guide you. I mean, you couldn't even lie about having a cookie before dinner when we were kids, for crying out loud!"_

_Wyatt flushed, groaning at the same time. "You are never gonna let that go, are you?" he huffed._

_She laughed, relieved that her joke had done its' purpose and the mood had been brightened. "Of course not," she chuckled. "You were hilarious, saying that you had turned evil and become a demonic thief because you had a cookie!"_

_He glared at her, but there was no heat in it. There never was._

* * *

_In her first timeline, Sophie met Nikolaus Perry of the Phoenix Assassin Clan when she was sixteen. He had been sent to kill her, and joined the Peacekeepers (Wyatt's demonic 'law enforcement officers' a.k.a thugs) in a battle with the Resistance over a supply train the Resistance had been trying to steal._

_The Resistance won, and in the midst of the fight, Niko had ended up impaled on a pipe, found by the Rebels when they were searching for any survivors or supplies they could take. Sophie called Mikelle, one of the few Whitelighters to survive the Invasion of the Heavens, over and, against heavy protests, had her heal the assassin as much as she could._

_She imprisoned him, and later, in exchange for him becoming a spy for her, she let him go. While at first their relationship was cold, full of distrust on both sides, they gradually grew closer. First, they became lovers, and then later they fell in love. Their relationship was doomed from the beginning, but Sophie found, when she stared at love in his whiskey eyes, that she didn't care. She would happily die a thousand deaths if it meant she could have a second with him._

_Nothing save her mother's death, not even Wyatt's turn, broke her heart as badly as Niko attacking her in the past. She had preferred the thought of her fiancé dead, then betraying the cause Sophie believed in so fiercely. When it hit her that he had literally traded the world for a mere chance of her safety, she ended up crying from a mixture of grief and the bitter laughter that shook her body._

_How ironic that she, called the 'Ice Queen' behind her back by her own soldiers, would have someone who literally loved her more than the world. She certainly didn't deserve such loving devotion._

_In her second timeline, Sophie met Niko when they crossed paths on a hunt when she was nineteen. They were initially wary of each other, her identifying him as Phoenix by his birthmark, which her parents had always warned not to trust, and him recognizing her sword as Excalibur, Sophie Halliwell's sword._

_Despite their distrust of each other, they agreed to work together to wipe out the clan of Upper-Level demons. Sophie had been in the middle of an argument with her family at the time about moving away for college, (a situation which had become increasingly common over the years as her independent spirit pushed against their protectiveness of her.) so she was on her own, and Niko and his mother had separated themselves from their clan when he was young. Lynn didn't want her son to become an assassin, she wanted him to be happy, though she taught him everything he would have learned if he_ _**had** _ _followed the clan's path._

_Both of them were sensible enough to realize the stupidity of taking on the large and powerful clan single-handedly, so they chose to help each other instead._

_They grew close over the week of hunting, and continued to work as partners, bonding as friends between demon hunts and studying. Sophie found that she was able to talk to him in a way she couldn't talk to anyone else, and Niko never judged her or tried to shake her out of her occasional bouts of depression like her family did._

_Niko, meanwhile, found himself fascinated by Sophie's strong character, and her unshaking determination to do what was right for the world at large, even if it meant doing something 'wrong' in the short term._

_Neither of them could say when exactly they fell in love, but by the time the Halliwells discovered the relationship, Sophie was already fixed on having Niko as her husband and an engagement ring graced her left ring finger._

_She fought back tears as she stared down her parents like they were enemies. In that moment, they were her enemies._

" _If you make me choose between Niko and this family, you are not going to like the result," she warned, choking on her pain at the threat._

" _You're not serious!" Wyatt cried. "He's a damn demon Sophie! He's bewitched you or something!"_

" _I recognized that tattoo the second I spotted it!" she snapped back. "Niko has distant demonic heritage, Uncle Cole has more demon in him than Niko does! And unlike Uncle, Niko never hurt and innocent! I didn't know that this family was so hypocritical but either way it doesn't matter! I'm marrying Niko and nothing any of you say or do is going to change that! So either you give in and accept that, or you lose me! Your choice."_

_She orbed away without giving her family a chance to answer. She feared that they would try and call her bluff. She feared that she wasn't bluffing._

_She spent the night at Niko's apartment, sobbing into his shoulder while he stroked her hair and murmured comforting words in her ears, before orbing to Sienna and Sarah's shared flat the next morning when they called her. Her parents were there, along with Wyatt. Piper wore a brave, slightly desperate, smile, the same as Leo, when she handed Sophie a beautiful white veil made of lace._

" _I wore this when I married your father," she said with a shaky voice. "I thought that you might like to have it as your something old for your wedding."_

" _I would love to," Sophie accepted the olive branch with relief._

" _No man's ever gonna be good enough for you," Wyatt told her. "But if he means that much to you, I guess I can learn to put up with him."_

" _I love you Princess," Leo whispered, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry."_

_Sophie didn't apologize, because she wasn't in the wrong, but she_ _**did** _ _tighten her grip on him, muttering her own words of love as she did so while Piper and Wyatt joined the embrace._

* * *

_In the original timeline, Sophie came up with the idea for time travelling at eighteen, and she and her coven and fiancé spent the next few years secretly preparing for the mission. They didn't dare even tell the rest of the Resistance, least a spy or captive leak the plan to Wyatt's forces._

_Niko proposed to her the day she left, though they both knew she would never return to say 'I do.' Later, she was forced to sneak into her own home with him, and her last sight of her time was of Niko fighting off the guards that came to investigate the sudden surge of magic in the Manor Museum._

_In the other timeline, things happened much quicker, but were complicated and angst-filled, just the same._

_They were buried in preparations for the upcoming marriage ceremony, because even though both Niko and Sophie wanted a low-key wedding there was still a lot to do, when Elder Sandra appeared. She wore a solemn expression, and the family all immediately feared that the end of the world was nigh._

_Their guess was close. It was time for Sophie to go back in time, as her other self had done. If she didn't return and cast the spell to become her original self by the end of the week, their timeline would collapse, and return to the original. They would fall into an unending time loop, and eventually the universe would collapse from the strain of constantly changing back and forth to the different worlds._

_There was no guarantee, even with the spell to restore her previous self, that things wouldn't be changed by accident, and the mission put Sophie's life equally at risk in both worlds._

_As the Charmed Ones and Leo had never even hinted at the events of 2004 to their children, not wanting to burden them with the knowledge, Sophie and Wyatt were both shocked and stricken by the announcement and subsequent explanation. If not for the urgency of the situation, they would both probably have been furious and cold to their parents for a long time after, as well as struggling to adjust to the new information about each other._

_But the time limit prevented it, and so instead, on January 27_ _th_ _, 2025, in both timelines, Sophia Prudence Halliwell drew a chalk triquetra on the attic wall, kissed her loved ones goodbye and stepped into a portal, the fate of the world on her shoulders._

* * *

"Sophie?" Her family's voices broke through the fog she had mentally fallen into after the last memory, of casting the spell on herself and forgetting her second timeline after arriving in 2003, finished playing.

She blinked and realized that she had been staring at the ceiling for quite a while, from the stinging in her eyes. Her family, parents, aunts, brother and fiancé alike, were all bent over her with worried expressions. A smile broke her face, feeling strange after so long without doing so, and she sat up, engulfed by an unfamiliar feeling of serenity.

"I'm home," she said softly. She grinned cheekily at her relieved fiancé. "And you owe me a wedding twice-over now."

"Welcome home, Darling," Piper laughed, pulling her into her familiar, comforting embrace. "Welcome home."


End file.
